The Classical Ideas Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep 103: Wanamaker's Temple w/Dr. Nicole Kirk Mar 30, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Nicole Kirk is a historian of American religious history, associate professor, and the Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, Illinois. She joined the faculty at Meadville Lombard in 2012 after earning her Ph.D. in American Religious History at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is the author of "Wanamaker's Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store." The book is out now from NYU Press.

Visit Nicole Kirk online: https://www.nicolekirk.com/

Visit Nicole Kirk on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Prof_in_Chicago

EP 102: Santa Muerte w/ Dr. Andrew Chesnut Mar 24, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Andrew Chesnut earned his Ph.D degree in Latin American History from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1995 and joined the History Department faculty at the University of Houston in 1997. He quickly became an internationally recognized expert on Latin American religious history. Professor Chesnut was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Bishop Walter Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies at VCU in 2008. Professor Chesnut's early work, Born Again in Brazil: The Pentecostal Boom and the Pathogens of Poverty (Rutgers University Press, 1997), traces the meteoric rise of Pentecostalism among the popular classes in Brazil following the disestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church. His second book, Competitive Spirits: Latin America's New Religious Economy (Oxford University Press, 2003) focuses on the three groups that have prospered most in the region's pluralist landscape, Protestant Pentecostalism, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and African disasporic religions (e.g., Brazilian Candomble and Haitian Vodou). Professor Chesnut's most recent book is Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (Oxford University Press, 2012). It is the first in-depth study of the Mexican folk saint in English and has received widespread media coverage.

Follow Dr. Andrew Chesnut on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/AndrewChesnut1

Visit: https://skeletonsaint.com/

Buy Devoted to Death: https://www.amazon.com/Devoted-Death-Santa-Muerte-Skeleton/dp/0190633336/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=Devoted+to+Death%3A+Santa+Muerte%2C+the+Skeleton+Saint&qid=1553112579&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Ep 101: The Saint John's Illuminated Bible w/ Jonathan Homrighausen Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

Jonathan Homrighausen is an Episcopal writer and scholar on Scripture, art, and interreligious dialogue. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Duke University, after earning his MA in Biblical Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.

His latest book, Illuminating Justice: The Ethical Imagination of The Saint John's Bible (out from Liturgical Press in 2018), explores the call to social ethics in The Saint John's Bible. It was a true pleasure to speak with Jonathan about his book and his interest in the Saint John's Bible. I think you will find him a wealth of knowledge in the intricate design and construction of this marvelous Bible. Without further delay, please enjoy our conversation.

You can find him online here: https://jdhomie.com/

You can buy his book from Liturgical Press here: https://litpress.org/Products/4455/Illuminating-Justice

Ep 100: The Epistle of James with Dr. Alicia Batten Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

Alicia Batten received her BA in Humanistic Studies from McGill University, and completed an MA and PhD in Theology, with a focus on the New Testament, at the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses upon the origins and development of early Christianity, with particular emphasis upon the ancient Mediterranean cultural context (s), including material culture. She also thinks it important to study the shifting manner in which biblical texts are interpreted over the centuries, and is currently writing a commentary examining the text reception and impact of the Letter of James. Beyond her academic interests, Alicia enjoys gardening, art, and reading works of fiction and poetry.

Visit her Waterloo faculty profile: https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/people-profiles/alicia-batten

Ep 99: Rima Fujita on Nibiiro Art, the Dalai Lama, and Buddhism Mar 10, 2019

Show notes

Rima Fujita was born in Tokyo and now resides in Southern California. She graduated from Parsons School of Design with her B.F.A. and has exhibited her work internationally to much acclaim. As a descendant of the Last Samurai her creative aesthetics is strongly influenced by the philosophy of Bushido and Buddhism.

Known for her distinctive style with vivid colors on black surface, Rima's works are extracted from her dreams and meditation process. They are ethereal and evoke a timeless sense of longing and peace, and yet if examined deeply her images trigger a powerful ripple of infinite emotions. She is inspired by "Nibiiro," an expression of a very dark grey color from the Heian period in Japan (AD 794 to1185). If you mixed all colors that exist in Nirvana, the Buddhist land of Perfect Bliss, it would become "Nibiiro."

Rima's life passion lays in her philanthropic work. In 2001 she established "Books for Children," an organization that produces children's books and donates them to children in needs around the world. She has created 4 children's books and has donated more than 12,000 books to the Tibetan children in exile. All profits go to support the Tibetan children's education. H.H. The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Betty Williams, the Nobel Peace Laureates personally gave her special recognition in 2006 at the International Peace Summit in Japan. His Holiness The Dalai Lama calls her, "An artist who creates beautiful art."

Visit her online: https://rimafujita.com/

Ep 98: Inter-religious Diplomacy and Jain Plurality w/ Dr. Melanie Barbato Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Barbato researches the mechanisms and strategies of interreligious communication with a focus on high-level actors and cultural diplomacy, such as the Pope. She is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Münster in Germany and is in partnership with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies in the UK. She is currently developing a project on Hindu-Christian dialogue. She's also a scholar of Jainism and is the author of Jain Approaches to Plurality: Identity as Dialogue, published by Brill in 2017.

We discuss current events, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Jainism, and her book.

Follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/melanie_barbato

Buy her book here.

Ep 97: Ásatrúarfélagið w/Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson is the elected Allsherjargoði (high priest) of the Icelandic pagan group, Ásatrúarfélagið, or Ásatrú Association. He is also a musician and composer.

You can find Ásatrú Association's translatable website at: https://asatru.is/

Ep 96: "Blogging My Religion" and Media w/ Dr. Giulia Evolvi Feb 23, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Giulia Evolvi is the author of "Blogging My Religion: Secular, Muslim, and Catholic Media Spaces in Europe," out now from Routledge. Evolvi is a Research Associate at the Centrum für Religionswissenshaftliche Studien (CERES) in Germany and she manages the Religion and Materiality Focus Group for the Käte Hamburger Kolleg project.

Follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/giuliaevolvi

Ep 95: Japanese Buddhist WWII Internment w/Duncan Ryūken Williams Feb 16, 2019

Show notes

Buy American Sutra from Harvard Press here

Bio from: https://www.duncanryukenwilliams.com/

Duncan Ryuken Williams was born in Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father. After growing up in Japan and England until age 17, he moved to the U.S. to attend college (Reed College) and graduate school (Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in Religion). Williams is currently an Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages & Cultures and the Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. Previously, he held the Shinjo Ito Distinguished Chair of Japanese Buddhism at University of California at Berkeley and served as the Director of Berkeley's Center for Japanese Studies for four years. He has also been ordained since 1993 as a Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen tradition and served as the Buddhist chaplain at Harvard University from 1994-96.

He is the author of a monograph entitled The Other Side of Zen: A Social History of Soto Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan(Princeton University Press, 2005) and co-editor of seven volumes including Hapa Japan (Kaya Press, 2017), Issei Buddhism in the Americas (U-Illinois Press, 2010), American Buddhism (Routledge, 1998), and Buddhism and Ecology (Harvard University Press, 1997). He has also translated four books from Japanese into English including Putting Buddhism to Work: A New Theory of Economics and Business Management (Kodansha, 1997). His latest book is American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War(Harvard University Press, 2019). He has previously received research grants from the American Academy of Religion, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the Japan Foundation, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Numata Foundation/Society for the Promotion of Buddhism. In 2011, Williams received a commendation from the Japanese government for deepening the mutual understanding between the peoples of Japan and California.

Ep 94: "Gurdjieff Reconsidered" with Dr. Roger Lipsey Feb 12, 2019

Show notes

Roger Lipsey is a biographer, art historian, translator, and, for many decades, a participant in the Gurdjieff teaching. Among his recent books is Hammarskjöld: A Life,which has been hailed as the definitive biography of Dag Hammarskjöld. His latest book, Gurdjieff Reconsidered: The Life, the Teachings, the Legacy, is out now from Shambhala Publications.

Buy the book here:

https://www.shambhala.com/gurdjieff-reconsidered.html

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