2015-2016 Academic Lectures
DR. DAVID MELLOTT: RESURRECTING SEMINARY FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD
In the opening academic lecture at Fall 2015 Convocation, Dr. David M. Mellott, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Lancaster Seminary, says that we must rethink everything we know about the world, the church, discipleship, and ministry.
DR. JUDITH PLASKOW: THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC SPACE: BODIES, RESTROOMS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Our academic lecture during LGBTQIA Pride Week features Dr. Judith Plaskow, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at Manhattan College. She focuses on the issue of toilet provision for women and transgender people, exploring how unequal power relations are reflected in the built environment. What does it mean theologically and practically to acknowledge elimination as a basic human function, much the same way that queer studies acknowledge and reclaim sexuality?
DR. KOSTIS KOURELIS: MEDIEVAL MODERN: CHURCH ARCHITECTURE FOR THE PRESENT
Dr. Kostis Kourelis, chair, Dept. of Art & Art History, and Associate Professor of Art History at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., presents a lecture that begins with the question: Are the theological and architectural challenges of the 19th century relevant in the era of the megachurch? After surveying Lancaster's theological legacy, he looks at how it can help us navigate through the architectural choices of the present. The lecture was sponsored by The Elmer R. Cook Memorial Endowment Fund.
COURTNEY TAYLOR: MATTERS OF WELCOME: INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR FAMILIES IN FAITH COMMUNITIES
Courtney Taylor, M.Div., Associate Director of Communications and Coordinator of Disabilities, Religion and Spirituality Program at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center in Nashville, TN presents a lecture for Disabilities Awareness Week. While a label of disability is not a reliable predictor of how important a spiritual life is to a person, the label is often a predictor of how well a person is welcomed and integrated into the life of a community of faith.