News and Opportunities

Welcome back to Dr. Jason Radine, returning from his semester away in Germany on a Humbolt Post-Doc.

Kelly Denton-Borhaug received the Dec. 2012 "Peace Pilgrim Award" at the "53rd Peace Pilgrimage" in Bethlehem, and gave the keynote address: “De-escalating U.S. War-culture: A Primer for Peace Advocates”.

We are celebrating the new books published by Religion Dept. faculty:

Jason Radine, The Book of Amos in Emergent Judah, Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 2. Reihe 45, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.

Jason Radine proposes that the biblical book of Amos is not a work of "prophecy" as the phenomenon is known from the ancient Near East, but rather a religio-political document explaining and justifying the withdrawal of divine favor from the Northern Kingdom.

Arash Naraghi, The Soul's Mirror (On Rumi's life and Ideas), Tehran, Negah Moaser, 2010.
-- The Ethics of Human Rights, Tehran, Negah Moaser, 2010.
Forthcoming:
--Theology of Absence, Tehran, Negah Moaser.
--On Love, (Philosophical articles), by Martha Nussbaum, Robert Solomon, Robert Nozick, and others, Tehran, Nashre Ney.

Kelly Denton-Borhaug, U.S. War-culture, Sacrifice and Salvation, London: Equinox, 2011. Religion and Violence Series, Co-editors Rosemary Radford Ruether and Lisa Isherwood..

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Religion Department Newsletter

Make sure that you are on the list to receive the department newsletter! Sent out every semester, the newsletter will keep you updated on publishings by our staff, Religion Department events and will be a place for alumnae/i to share their post-graduation pursuits and interests. If you would like to stay in touch by recieving the newsletter and sharing your own story, send you preferred e-mail address to our newsletter editor, Lawrence Olejar, '14 at stldo01@moravian.edu.

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Resume-Building Seminar

It's more important than ever for undergraduate students to develop tools to help them navigate the world of questions and opportunities regarding life after college.  Religion Dept. Alumnus, Eddie Flaherty, has developed a "Resume-building workshop" that is designed to help Religion Majors think through what they need to include on their resume, and the importance of the language they use for their resume, in order to achieve their goals regarding graduate school, employment options, and more. See the informative powerpoint presentation here. Mock resumes and Moravian College Career Guides can be found in our new common area on the first floor of Comenius.

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More News from the Department

-A record number of 15 students and faculty traveled to the border region of Tuscon, AZ and Nogales, Mexico, in March 4 through 9, 2011 with "Borderlinks," a non-profit dedicated to increasing multicultural awareness and understanding of the border and immigration. These students were part of Rel 255, "Latin American Liberation Theology," and a seminary course, "Liberation Theology". Ds. Kelly Denton-Borhaug and Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim were the professors and trip leaders. Check out the Moravian Religion Department Facebook for pictures and more details:

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We encourage students to make use of a wide array of opportunities to deepen and enhance their study in the Department of Religion. Among the possibilities to consider:

• We offer two "travel seminars" that are linked to courses in the religion department. Find out more about the trip to Israel and participation in an archaeological dig
• Find out more about a trip to the borderland between Mexico and Arizona.
• Students may further their studies with additional classes through Moravian Theological Seminary, or can register for religion courses through approved LVAIC institutions. Speak with your advisor about how to go about making use of these educational opportunities.
• The College Chaplaincy offers study tours, worship and leadership opportunities, and growth in multifaith learning in the Religious Life Council. For more information, see the Moravian College Religious Life Webpage.
• Other religion majors search out opportunities involving peace and justice issues through clubs such as Amnesty, Global Diversity, and the Peace and Justice Students Club. Find out more about Moravian College's Peace and Justice Study Initiative here

We also strongly encourage our students to plan for some sort of internship while they are completing their major. This is something to discuss with your advisor, but you can also access some additional internship information here.

Religion students have been granted SOAR research grants to do independent research with professors over the summer. See the Soar web page for more information: Among other items, check out the proposal that was successfully submitted by the Summer 2011 Rokke Research Scholar Naiomi Gonzalez, a Religion major. Other Moravian College Religion majors have sucessfully submitted proposals to present their scholarship at local undergraduate conferences such as the LVAIC Women's Studies Conference, and the Social Justice Conference at Muhlenberg College. Speak with your advisor and professors about how to go about preparing for these great opportunities.

Students who demonstrate excellence in their studies are eligible for induction into the National Religion Honor Society, Theta Kappa Alpha. For more information, click here.

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Congratulations to Moravian College Religion Majors for the following accomplishments in 2011-2012!

• Rebecca Finn, '11, will travel with 17 others to participate in the Ministerio de Salud Integral Comunitario (MISAICO), in Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. There she will work with this ministry that provides a number of social programs to the community ranging from schools to medical clinics, in addition to supporting other church-based activities. Among other programs, she will learn about the Christian Educational Center- Dominican Republic, founded in 1992 for street children. Although the school first opened with 20 children and no teachers, it now serves 400 students, ages 2 through senior high. It also boasts 15 university educated teachers.
• Naiomi Gonzalez was named a SOAR scholar for the second summer in a row. She will be working on a research project with Dr. Denton-Borhaug titled, "Violence and Soteriology." Naiomi also returned from spring semester in Washington, D.C. She writes:

  I had the opportunity to spend the 2011 semester at American University and in addition to completing an internship at the National League of POW/MIA Families,  I was able to meet with various political and nonprofit leaders through the class component of the program. I also had the opportunity to research an area of interest and write a paper and I chose to examine Military Chaplaincy and the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The topic I chose was still being strongly debated in the House, and I had the chance to go to two different House Hearings about the repeal. In both hearings high ranking military officials were present to give their testimony on the success of DADT repeal implementation training. Attending the hearings also enabled me to interview well known opponents and advocates for repeal.  I plan to continue with my research during my senior year, especially since the issue continues to rapidly evolve.

• Mike Santos utilized research and writing from his semester in Washington, D.C. to present a paper for the Mulhenberg Conference on Social Justice on April 8, 2011. He writes, While in DC, I had an internship with a new NGO called New Story Leadership for the Middle East. This group organizes a vast network of support so that every summer, we can also bring 5 Israeli and 5 Palestinian college students to the US to stay with host families and work at internships for the summer. While in DC, they use the power of their personal stories to sway the moods of people who truly have influence over what happens in the region. Last summer, they told their story to audiences of ambassadors, congressmen, scholars, lobbyists and journalists at the French Embassy as well as one of the Senate office buildings. While working with NSL I was inspired to do a research project on the power of stories. I finished my research on collective memory, selective story telling and how they affect American discourse on Islam.