Schedule of Events

Contemporary American Buddhist practices are incredibly dynamic and individualized. Today’s flexible practices contrast with the formal structure Asian immigrant Buddhists needed to enforce in their faith lives when they first came to the United States in the 19th century. In order to: show Americans that they were not a threat, provide a safe space where fellow immigrants could escape racial hostility, and maintain their ethnic identity in a time of great transition. This structure manifested in many ways. One was how temples doubled as cultural centers, where cultural activities were equally as important as, if not sometimes more than, religious ones. Another was how temple membership was exclusively ethnic for a long period, which was mainly due to the hostility immigrants faced when intermingling. Yet another was the reshaping of many ceremonies, holidays, and rituals that had to be condensed or modified to work within the time constraints, norms, and culture of the US. Contemporary American Buddhism can be characterized as intentionally ambiguous and open to interpretation and adaptation. Its practitioners encourage that nuanced points of view be drawn from its overarching statements. This form is a simultaneous return to and reinvention of Buddhism for this day and age. This paper seeks to understand what practice means to American Buddhists in Southern California in 2018 through an examination of early American Buddhist communities and original ethnographic research of two local American Buddhist communities.

In the last thirty years in the United States there has been an increase in diagnosed mental disorders, and a simultaneous decrease in cultural and societal support for engagement in the arts. Through interviews and the analysis of case studies and statistical data, I will examine the connections between artistic expression and positive mental health. Based on these connections and given the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) 2011 statment of support regarding those with mental illness, I will argue that the ELCA has a responsibility to foster the relationship between mental health and the arts in their congregations. Building on the long history of artistic engagement within the ELCA, engagement which finds its roots as far back as Martin Luther himself, I will outline ways congregations of the ELCA can demonstrate and reaffirm their dedication to the mental health and wellness of their members through this important connection.

Rooting God’s love and compassion for all of creation, I will call upon the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to reclaim sexuality within the context of faith, providing guidance for congregations and synods to be held accountable for teaching, preaching, and affirming the values of the ELCA.  For centuries, faith communities have used the Bible to degrade, diminish, and “clobber” queer individuals, which has inflicted wounds that have yet to heal.  While this can not be undone, Christian churches now have a responsibility to mend these wounds and to address aspects of sexuality beyond LGBTQ+ inclusion through teaching of God’s relentless and unconditional love for all of creation, regardless of sexuality, through preaching, hosting Bible studies, and developing fruitful and affirming relationships with the community.  Drawing on the process of creating the 2009 social statement on Human Sexuality and current ELCA teachings of sexuality, I will call for a comprehensive approach to sexuality, advanced through preaching and teaching curriculum. Further, I will argue that the ELCA ought to develop relationships with local agencies and community partners to facilitate an understanding of sexuality that is consistent with God’s care for all of creation.

Medical professionals in the US serves people of different ethnicities, religions, ages, genders, and in a country where diversity spreads rapidly, it is medical professionals’ responsibilities to be aware of and be able to respect diverse communities and their respective needs and practices. According to the Pew Research Center, the Muslim population has grown by 32% since 2000 in the United States, making up 1.1% of the entire American population.While it may not seem significant, that percentage equates to about 3.45 million Americans who self-identify as Muslim as of 2017. It is important for our medical professionals to be aware of any cultural differences as well as understanding how to best approach potentially sensitive topics because the Muslim American population will continue to rise. This project aims to explore the current cultural sensitivity trainings available to medical personnel, focusing specifically on Muslim patient care. I ask which Muslim traditions may contradict current medical treatments and what kind of medical training do medical professionals receive for these sorts of situations? What kind of cultural competence and training is given to students in medical school and medical practitioners? Are there places for improvement? This presentation will combine interviews with self-identified Muslims, previously published research literature, insight from a local Muslim doctor as well as CLU faculty and staff in an attempt to answer these proposed questions.

As the climate changes, natural disasters are having an unprecedented impact on the earth’s ecosystems and human communities. Natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, capture huge amounts of media attention focused on blight porn, local debates about redevelopment, and allocation of federal spending. Human communities and the earth’s ecosystems are treated from a distance as problems to be managed. But the aftermath of natural disasters calls for attention close up--not only in the form of immediate direct relief, but also in strategies of continuous care, developing human communities and ecosystem restoration. Ongoing recovery and redevelopment in the gulf coast shows the need for creating space for the most vulnerable people and habitats. Sanctuary is a theological concept for strategies of continuous care that offer space for recovery and agency in development and restoration. I will argue that the concept of sanctuary helps people stay focused on the inherent dignity of human communities and the earth’s ecosystems and that it is an essential perspective for disaster relief.

If eating is the paramount cultural act, as Wendell Berry argues in his seminal book The Unsettling of America, then is eating also a paramount religious act? What can we learn when we attend to the intersections between religion, food, and eating (or not eating)? This panel will offer 4 student research presentations: Valerie Krepel will present “Comparative Christian Practices: In’n’Out and Koinonia Farm,” in which she explores Christian ecological and theological ethics through two contrasting case studies; Molly Strawn will present “Disgust As a Religious Ideal,” in which she argues that disgust is a morally-loaded emotion that can lead to religious legislation and custom; Kalin Woodward will present “Food, Fasting, and Russian Orthodoxy,” in which she outlines a social-religious-culinary history of the relationship between food and fasting; and Meagan Toumayan will present “Starvation and Martyrdom,” providing an historical and narrative account of the relationship between starvation and martyrdom through which she understands part of her own Armenian family story. The presentations will be followed by a faculty-moderated methodological discussion about how religion and food can interpret one another, and what we can learn in the process of studying them together.