BTH : Meet Emory’s newest professor: The Dalai Lama
One faculty member in Georgia will not only be referred to as professor, but as ‘His Holiness.’
The XIV Dalai Lama has been named Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, the first university appointment accepted by the 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate and leader of the Tibetan exile community.
The Dalai Lama, who has examined the interface between science and spirituality, was appointed as part of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, which brings together the best of Western and Tibetan Buddhist intellectual traditions.
One of the most ambitious undertakings of this partnership is an initiative to develop and implement a broad science education curriculum for Tibetan monks.
‘Our science faculty will write a college-level curriculum to educate Tibetan monks about Western science – something to which they have not had a lot of experience,’ said Janice Love, dean and professor of Christianity and world politics at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. ‘Tibetan monks will teach our science faculty about the benefits of contemplative traditions like meditation and how they can prove useful in the treatment of depression,’ she said.
Emory is recognized as one of the leading centers for the study of Tibetan philosophy and religion in the United States, due to the university’s close relationship with Tibetan Buddhist institutes of higher learning in India. Some of its affiliates include the Drepung Loseling Monastery and the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile.
‘While His Holiness isn’t teaching courses at the university, he will provide private teaching sessions with about 20 students during the study abroad program in Dharamsala,’ said Gary Hauk, vice president and deputy to the president at Emory University. ‘He’s also coming to campus regularly to interact with students and faculty through lectures and conferences.’
The Dalai Lama spearheaded the first ever Emory Summit on Religion, Conflict and Peace building in October, encouraging the religions of the world to work together to reduce violent conflict and build peaceful, pluralistic societies.
During the conference, he was featured on stage with religious leaders from Hindu, Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities, including Rabbi David Rosen, Sister Joan Chittister, professor Rajmohan Gandhi and professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im.
‘The conference centered on basic Buddhist teachings about the integration of reality – the idea that lots of things are related to one another generally,’ Love said.
In September 2006, Congress passed a bill to award the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the nation, for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet issue through dialogue with Chinese leadership.
Pagan students at Marshall University are now allowed to skip classes in observance of religious festivals or holidays.
The school, located in Huntington, W.Va., may be the first college in the country to formally protect pagans from being penalized for missing classes. On Nov. 1, pagan students had the opportunity to observe Samhain, a pagan and Wiccan holiday that honors the dead.
The school’s decision to allow pagans to miss particular classes is an extension of its existing policies for students that belong to other religious groups.
Marshall has an enrollment of 14,000.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
Spray-painted swastika
On Oct. 31, a swastika was found spray-painted on a Jewish professor’s office door at Teachers College at Columbia University.
The clinical psychologist professor said two weeks earlier, she found an anti-Semitic flyer in her work mailbox. She found two more copies of the flyer in her mailbox a week later.
This is the second time in less than a month that one of the college’s professors has been a target of bias. On Oct. 10, a noose was found on the office door of a black professor at the college.
SOURCE: The New York Times
Calendar tales
More than 100 students from Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design recently posed in their birthday suits with fresh local produce. It was all part of a photo shoot for Ripe 2008, a fundraising calendar from Sustainable Food Initiative.
With the shoot, organizers said they tried to highlight the beauty of buying local products and the connections humans share with food.
Profits from sales of the calendar, which are going for $15 each, will go to two local organizations and the development of a student garden.
SOURCE: The Brown Daily Herald
Guitar heroes
MTV rolled through the University of Pennsylvania Nov. 1, and the television station brought digital facsimiles of popular bands such as Kiss and Soundgarden along with it.
It was part of a promotional tour for ‘Rock Band,’ a new MTV videogame similar to ‘Guitar Hero,’ where about 100 student users played mock instruments in correspondence with on-screen instructions.
Winners from the 24-city tour will fly to New York City for a Battle of the Bands competition on MTV’s ‘Total Request Live.’ The winning team will then improve their skills before opening for a real band at a yet-to-be-determined concert.
SOURCE: The Daily Pennsylvanian
Published on November 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm
