This Monday, we're going to enjoy a visit from Samford Professor David Bains. After our class lets out, Prof. Bains will be giving a talk for the Religious Studies Department's Religion in Culture Lecture Series at 7:30 in Gorgas 205. That talk's title will be: "National Cathedral to National Gurdwara: Erecting American Religions in Washington, D.C.", and there will be a response given by Mark McCormick, professor of religion at Stillman. Here's the link to the facebook event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153915967979461&ref=ts
Description of the talk he'll give that night? Well, sure, I've got that too:
Many Americans have long regarded religion as essential to the character and welfare of the nation. Accordingly, they have desired landmark houses of worship to be part of their capital city's symbolic landscape. Yet because of the religious diversity among Americans, many "national" houses of worship have been required. The erection and success of such buildings has been complicated by the separation of church and state, the congregational character of most American religions, and the bold plan and slow development of Washington. With its hegemonic claims to be a "spiritual home of the nation," Washington National Cathedral has been the most successful. Yet its claims have been continually contested by other groups. In this lecture, David Bains, an Associate Professor at Samford University, examines how these "national" houses of worship seek to shape the religious life of the United States and its capital city.
As this talk will be different from the conversation topic he'll deal with in our class, I want you to attend his evening talk and make your next post be a response to that. I'll remind you in class, send an email, etc. But with this post, maybe write a comment involving which of the 3 readings he gave us you're enjoying most/least and why... And/or, go ahead and throw out some questions you think you want to ask him or topics you want to make sure he deals with....
This week has been so hectic but I am so excited for our guest speaker in class tomorrow although I do need to finish up the reading in order to make you look good and not like a liar to this guest! :)
ReplyDeleteI am on a roll with this paper and hopefully I will have at least 5 new pages for tomorrows class as well! Ah, so much to do and its only Sunday! Hectic week ahead!
Pumped about the guest speaker and pumped about my paper! I've gotten a lot done on it, as well as Andie's peer edit! What a great 11 hour shift! See you sooooooonnnn
ReplyDeletePersonally I enjoyed the text / images combo piece, I found all the different styles of architecture and design very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWow, now I feel behind! I am still working on an outline that I feel comfortable with for my paper. Overacheivers... Just kidding :)
ReplyDeleteI think the differences between his two lectures were pretty thought-provoking; in class, our conversation centered around defining what we mean when we categorize something as a "sacred space" (a physical space, an internal vs. external space, a place of aesthetics, a place of commemoration), while in Dr. Bains lecture dealt more specifically with the role of the 'civic' and 'congregational' space in Washington D.C...
ReplyDeleteSomething we began to touch on in class that I thought was interesting was the difference between a physical and mental sacred space~~I felt like the lecture and the articles were leaning toward the physical and architectural side of the sacred space, but I definitely think there is something to be said for the mental side of things....one could argue that a 'sacred space' could be incredibly individualized, and not just accounted for in things like churches or temples; I would definitely call my childhood backyard and playroom sacred spaces of some kind for me...
these were the questions that I really wanted to ask Dr. Bains:
ReplyDelete1. According to the text from page 130 ofHouses of God, the original interior of the 1800 Home Moravian Church featured simple benches and lacked a pulpit. Did these features stem from the Moravian's social equality beliefs originating from Bohemian beliefs of the mid-1700's
2. The text from the Houses of God, page 118-119, indicates that, of late nineteenth and early twentieth century, among the top of the social scale of evangelical protestants were Episcopalians. However, the text goes on to indicate that there was "inhospitality" towards the Catholics in certain regions. Why is this, since Episcopalian and Catholic beliefs resemble each other in many ways? Also, what were some of the "inhospitality" practices and to what extent?
Though I didn't get to go that night to hear David Bains, I thoroughly enjoed having him in class. I really liked his presentation. I wish I had been able to go that night. I really enjoyed talking about sacred spaces, too. I found it very interesting. Until then, I suppose I hadn't put much thought into what a sacred space is. I found him very interesting--I wish we could have spent more time discussing things with him in class.
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