Interview on "Theory of Change" podcast with Dr. Alfredo Palacios

I’m thrilled to share the interview I did with Dr. Alfredo Palacios on “The Theory of Change” podcast. Dr. Palacios and I discussed the dynamics of religious freedom in contemporary times, as well as an examination of the interplay between colonization and religion. “The Theory of Change” podcast is aimed at people working in the healing professions, Dr. Palacios is a professor of counseling at UCCS as well as a practicing professional counselor. Enjoy!

Denver Culture Con 2019, here we come!

In a few days I will speak on two panels at Denver Culture Con 2019 (formerly known as Denver Comic Con). This is an exciting opportunity to have more public facing conversations than are usually possible (or welcome) at the run of the mill academic conference.

The first panel is titled, “Why Supporting Star Wars Helps the Empire, not the Resistance,” and takes place on Friday, May 31, 2:30-3:20 p.m. in Room 704/706 at the Denver Convention Center. Here is the abstract:

“Star Wars is one of the most popular franchises around the world, spawning films, TV series, books, comics, and – by some accounts – a new religious movement. Whether labeled as the Rebellion or Resistance, viewers are consistently invited to identify with the downtrodden and oppressed in every book, film, or TV series. However, this identification with the oppressed belies the reality in which the SW universe itself is a powerful force driving us to consume SW media and related products. These modes of production and consumption do nothing to address the deep inequalities that exist IRL. To the contrary, consuming the SW universe does more to empower the neoliberal capitalist "Evil Empire" than it does any type of Resistance. Through examining the tension between the ideals promoted by the SW universe and the effects of fans’ consumption of that universe, audience members will critique their own relationship to this much beloved universe.”

The second panel is titled “The Jedi Religion: Sufi, Daoist, and Buddhist Themes and the Jedi Order,” and takes place on Saturday, June 1st, from 2:30-3:20 p.m., in Rooms 704/706. Yes, that’s right, the panels are at the SAME TIME and in the SAME PLACE, just one day apart. This means that I have no excuse not to get to the second panel on time!

Here is the abstract for the second panel:

“Many researchers, writers, and fans alike, lay claim to the Jedi, insisting that the Jedi Order is basically Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, etc. The Jedi, however, are not Muslim or Buddhist, or any other modern religion, they are Jedi. George Lucas has pointed to numerous religious influences in his stories, yet many want to put Yoda or Qui-Gon Jin in a particular camp of religious influence. In this talk, we will explore possible influences and parallels between the Jedi Order and Sufi, Buddhist and Daoist religion/philosophy. Using source material taken from the “official canon,” we will search for common ground between the Jedi Order and three rich and diverse religious traditions. We hope that this presentation will provide participants with greater knowledge of these three world traditions, and how they might connect to the world(s) of Star Wars and the Jedi Order.”

Click here for the full schedule, as well as information on buying tickets.

Check back for my after action report, which will be sure to include some great photos of people dressed up as their favorite scfi-fi/fantasy characters!

Studying Philosophy and Religion...all that different?

After completing three degrees in religious studies (BA, MTS, PHD), this year I find myself teaching in a philosophy department. In the particular case of UC Colorado Springs (UCCS), there is no formal religious studies program on campus, and the philosophy department is the place where the study of religion has found a proverbial home. After visiting campus for the first time a few weeks ago (see my earlier blog post) and meeting some of the philosophy faculty, I have to say I didn’t feel out of place at all. After all, the dividing line between these two disciplines is largely arbitrary, and can be traced to particular social and cultural histories in European and North American academies. Especially after attending Harvard Divinity School, which some forget is technically a seminary, I came to appreciate how many subjects philosophers and theologians have in common, and how religious studies as an academic discipline overlaps with both while also retaining some space of its own. At dinner with my colleagues, I was amazed at how many people told me about their love for teaching al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Ibn Sina (the name I prefer to the Latin transliteration, Avicenna, but that’s a different blog post).

I developed a course called Islamic Philosophy for UCCS this semester, and will be teaching another course called Modern Islamic Philosophy in the fall. So far, the syllabus each course (one in progress and one under development) is not that different from a course I took at Harvard called…wait for it…”Islamic Philosophy and Theology.” Reading al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Mulla Sadra, Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Muhammad `Abdu, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Said Qutb, and so forth in one department vs. another is not that different, especially at the undergraduate level. True, most of my students at UCCS have taken philosophy courses before, and have more familiarity with Aristotle than you would expect from the typical 21 year old in the United States, but almost none of them have read anything from Islamic intellectual history before, so that previous knowledge only serves them when the authors we cover in class address the Greek “classical” writers. The rest of the time, I have to explain everything else the same way I would when teaching this material in a religious studies department.

In terms of scholarship, my training and specialization is in studying texts, analyzing them in order to produce new insights — either because no one else has looked at the texts in question for a very long time, or because I seek to make an intervention in the current scholarly discourse surrounding the subjects that these texts address. So, studying Indian divination techniques known as “the science of the breath” (Persian: `ilm-i dam), brings up these challenging questions - how do we draw the boundaries between science, religion, and magic? How do those boundaries shift from one historical or cultural context to another? What happens when we take boundaries generated in a particular context and apply them to another without adjusting for different political and religious sensibilities? What role does colonization and Orientalism play in the way that knowledge from non-European cultures has been received, interpreted, and marginalized - especially over the past 300 years? These are all questions that I know I can pursue in cooperation with this band of philosophers with whom I now find myself joined.

In truth, after spending five years immersed in a religious studies program, it has been a breath (ha!) of fresh air to change gears. I’m reminded of my undergraduate institution, Macalester College (Go Scots!), where the Departments of Religious Studies and Philosophy shared the same floor in Old Main, and I was known to bother professors from either department if they left the door open…inviting me to stop by and ask questions. In addition to religious studies, I also majored in classics, and read some of these ancient philosophers in the original Greek.

This is all to say that in my experience, a scholar of religion teaching in a philosophy department is no “stranger in a strange land” situation. Instead, I think it is a real opportunity for growth. I get to talk to people who have spent a lot of time analyzing texts, but also considering other approaches to knowledge (embodiment and visual/material culture especially). We sit, we think, we ask questions. We want to know more, understand more, question more. Sounds like “love of wisdom” (philo-sophia) to me.