Center on Religion & the Professions

Center-funded study indicates religious, spiritual support may help chronically ill cope

khill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:17:05 +0000

A recently published study from two MU professors and supported by the Center on Religion and the Professions found evidence to suggest that religious and spiritual support can help alleviate stress and physical symptoms related to chronic illness for both men and women. The study was co-authored by a team of researchers from the MU Health Psychology Department and School of Social Work and was recently published in the Journal of Religion, Disability & Health. MizzouWeekly published a summary of the findings and interview with two of the paper’s authors, Stephanie Reid-Arndt, an associate professor of health psychology, and Brick Johnstone, a professor health psychology and director fo the MU Spirituality and Health Research program. The full text of the study can be found online through the Taylor & Francis Group.

City of Columbia accepting rolling applications for Human Rights Enhancement Program funding

khill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:43:47 +0000

From the City of Columbia website:

“Through the Human Rights Enhancement Program, the city is interested in contracting with local organizations to provide human rights educational services in our community. Services pertaining to the issues of discrimination, diversity, inclusion, tolerance, multicultural education and related human rights issues are considered for funding. The HREP is also intended to encourage collaboration between organizations and individuals concerned with human rights issues and assist them with leveraging other monies in the support of these issues.”

The city urges organizations and individuals applying for funding to consider how their proposal should address human rights issues in the community as per the city’s Human Rights Ordinance. The City of Columbia Commission on Human Rights considers applications on a rolling basis throughout the year. Applications received by the 15th of each month will be assessed during the next scheduled commission meeting (calendar). Projects submitted for funding must be completed within a calendar year of when funds are awarded.

For more information: Contact the City of Columbia Human Rights Commission by phone at (573) 874-7488, by fax at (573) 874-7756, via email or by snail mail:
The Division of Human Services
P.O. Box 6015
1005 W. Worley
Columbia, MO 65205-6015

For additional information on the grant application process, refer to the Human Rights Enhancement Program policy (.pdf). Also on the commission’s website, you can find detailed reports of previous funding through the HREP program.

Champa Lhunpo returns to Hickman High School for Amnesty International meeting

khill — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:52:25 +0000

Champa Lhunpo, a teacher of Tibetan language and culture at the University of Kansas, will speak with students and the public at 3 p.m Thursday, Nov. 10 at Hickman High School during an Amnesty International meeting. Lhunpo has spoken on several occasions at Hickman about Tibetan culture and Buddhism. Lhunpo will be speaking about human rights issues in Tibet.

Time/Date: 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10

Location: Hickman High School Dining Hall Annex (map)

For more information: George Frisell (via email) or Nicole Overeem (via email), faculty sponsors for Hickman chapter of Amnesty International

Columbia Values Diversity invites nominations for its annual awards

khill — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:24:46 +0000

The Columbia Values Diversity Celebration Planning Committee is now accepting nominations for its 15th annual Diversity Awards. Each year, the committee bestows its award on one individual/family and one group/organization that promotes diversity and cultural understanding in the community. Nominees should also also exemplify the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in fostering racial equality and solving problems non-violently. Award-winners will be honored during a ceremony Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012.

Deadline: noon on Tuesday, Nov. 29

Forms: Nomination guidelines (.pdf), nomination form (.pdf)

Submissions: should be sent to Columbia Values Diversity Award Committee. Via fax: (573) 874-7756. Via email.
Via snail mail:
Columbia Values Diversity Award Committee
c/o City of Columbia, Division of Human Services
1005 W. Worley St., P.O. Box 6015, Columbia, MO 65205-6015

For more information: Visit the Diversity Awards page on the City of Columbia website, or contact the city’s Division of Human Services at (573) 874-7488, or via email.

MU Professor Steven Starr to give Noel P. Gist seminar lecture against nuclear war

khill — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:51:04 +0000

Steven Starr, program director of the MU Clinical Laboratory Science program and senior scientist with Physicians for Social Responsibility, will give a lecture titled “Nuclear weapons still threaten human existence: the long-term environmental consequences of nuclear war” as part of the Noel P. Gist Brown Bag Seminar Series at MU.

Starr worked for 22 years in mid-Missouri clinical laboratories as a technologist in addition to his extensive advocacy work in opposition to nuclear warfare. Starr has published prolifically on the subject of nuclear war prevention and has testified before the U.N. General Assembly on the potential long-term environmental effects of such conflict. He maintains a multi-lingual website, nucleardarkness.org, that features much of the work he has produced as part of a passion that began during his childhood.

The Noel P. Gist Brown Bag Seminar Series occurs weekly at MU. The lunch meetings are named after sociologist Noel P. Gist, who sought to raise awareness of international issues on campus by inviting experts in various academic fields.

Date/Time: 12 to 12:50 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3

Location: Room N52 of Memorial Student Union (campus map)

Cost: Free, and open to the public. Attendees may bring their own lunches to the seminar.

For more information: Contact Rebecca A. O’Neal, executive staff assistant at the MU International Center, via email or at (573) 882-6008.

MU Equity Office launches See-It, Hear-It Report-It campaign

khill — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:25:53 +0000

The MU Equity Office, part of the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative at the University of Missouri, has launched a campaign this fall to raise awareness of bias incidences on campus related to issues such as race, gender and religious affiliation. The office urges students, faculty and staff to report any bias incidences on campus either through their online form or brochures distributed to departments across campus. The office will then investigate the issue and offer constructive ways to resolve potential conflicts. Additionally, the department offers training and workshops on how to deal with bias incidences and a list of resources detailing common equity issues that may arise on campus.

For more information, contact the MU Equity Office via email or at (573) 882-9069.

Stephens College hosts Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays event Nov. 7

khill — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:03:56 +0000

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays is a nationwide play reading featuring works from American playwrights such as Mo Gaffney, Jordan Harrison and Jeffrey Hatcher. The event seeks to raise understanding toward and awareness of the issues involved in gay marriage in America. Stephens College will host a reading of the eight short plays on Nov. 7, joining performances across the country and around the globe.

Date/Time: 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 7 (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

Location: Windsor Auditorium at Stephens College, 1405 E. Broadway (campus map)

Tickets: To obtain free general admission tickets to this event, contact the Windsor Auditorium box office on the campus of Stephens College or call (573) 876-7199 Monday-Friday from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more information: Visit the Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays website or Facebook page

MU Muslim Student Organization sponsors Haroon Moghul lecture for Islam Awareness week

khill — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:15:56 +0000

MU’s Muslim Students’ Organization engages in social, religious and educational activities that promote unity at MU and create awareness of Islam among Muslims and people of other faiths. In accordance with that goal, the group sponsors several events throughout the calendar year, including Islam Awareness week on campus. This fall, the MSO brings Haroon Moghul to MU to speak on Thursday, Oct. 27 in conjunction with this event that runs from Monday, Oct. 24 to Friday, Oct. 28. Moghul’s lecture is titled, “Who is afraid of Shariah?”

Haroon Moghul is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University, specializing in Middle East, South Asian and African Studies. He is also senior editor at the Islamic Monthly, associate editor for Religion Dispatches and a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. He currently serves as executive director of The Maydan Insitute. Moghul’s work has appeared in the Huffington Post, and his blog, Avari, has won numerous Bass Crescent awards honoring excellence in the Muslim blogosphere, including Best Muslim Blog, Best Thinker and Best Writing.

Date/Time: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27

Location: S203 Memorial Union (campus map)

For more information: Visit the MU Muslim Students’ Organization website or contact the group via email.

Yale’s Stephen L. Carter gives Schiffman Lecture in Religious Studies on Oct. 17

khill — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:17:58 +0000

Author and Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter will give this fall’s Religious Studies lecture as part of the Althea W. and John A. Schiffman Lecture series on the campus of Columbia College, titled “God’s Name in Vain: Religion in Politics.” The lecture will be preceded by a Q&A session in Dorsey Gym at 3 p.m. and a reception in the Dulany Banquet Room at 6 p.m. The Lecture in Religious Studies draws noted scholars to Columbia College to lecture on the influence of religion in politics, culture and education. Each year, nationally and internationally renowned scholars speak to students, faculty, staff and members of the community about how religion has shaped and continues to shape major issues of our day.

Stephen L. Carter is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale University. He graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in history and obtained his law degree from Yale in 1979, where he returned to teach in 1982 after serving as a law clerk for Judge Spottswood W. Robinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. He has authored several books, including The Violence of Peace: America’s Wars in the Age of Obama in 2011. His upcoming novel, entitled The Impeachment of President Lincoln, is set for publication in 2012.

Date/Time: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17 (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

Location: Launer Auditorium on the campus of Columbia College (map)

For more information: Visit the Schiffman Religious Studies Lecture homepage

Columbia Values Diversity calls for submissions for its Student Writings Program

khill — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:50:08 +0000

The Columbia Values Diversity Celebration is calling for submissions for its annual Student Writings Program, held in conjunction with its annual diversity awards honoring diversity and cultural understanding in the community. The Student Writings Program is open to students in grades 4 to 12. The 2012 theme is “One Community, Many Stories.” Students are encouraged to submit original compositions, including essays, poems, songs and raps, that promote the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and include the reasons why Columbia is a community rich in diversity. Winning entries will be published in the 2012 Columbia Values Diversity Celebration Student Writings Booklet that will be handed out at the annual diversity awards celebration held Jan. 12, 2012.

Deadline: Monday, Nov. 14

Forms: Submission guidelines (.pdf), flier (.pdf)

Submissions: Columbia Public School students should submit their entries to:

Michelle Baumstark
Community Relations
Columbia Public Schools
1818 West Worley
Columbia, MO 65203

All other students should submit entries via email or to:

Columbia Values Diversity Celebration
c/o Division of Human Services
1005 W. Worley St.
Columbia, MO 65203

For more information: Visit the Columbia Values Diversity Celebration website or contact the city’s Division of Human Services via email or at (573) 874-7488.