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PCTS Spring 2012 Meeting Apr 13-14
Dear Colleagues,
Honoring Huston Smith: Mythology in Theology and Science
Tucson Room at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), Berkeley, California
From the society's website:
Spring Meeting 2012
April 13-14, 2012
Honoring Huston Smith: Mythology in Theology and Science
Tucson Room at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), Berkeley, California
Schedule
Friday, Apr 13
2-5 pm - Paper Session - Relating Mythology and Theology
5-7 pm - Business Meeting, Social Time, Dinner (Cost for Dinner = $25, RSVP)
7-8:30 pm - Public Lecture, Gaymon Benett (Fred Hutchinson Center for Cancer Research)
"The Making of Secular Salvation: How Myth and Metaphor Can Shape Laboratory Practice, and with it Our Shared Biological Futures"
Saturday, Apr 14
9–9:30 am - Continental BreakfastNote: Starting time has changed for Friday evening lecture and Saturday morning start time since last meeting. They are each 30 mins earlier (and have reverted to the times they were a couple of years ago).
9:30 am-noon - Paper Session - Myth in the Heart of Science
Topic
It the Society's great pleasure to celebrate the lifetime of achievements of Professor Emeritus Huston Smith by considering the relationship between theology, mythology, and science. Huston Smith writes:
A symbol such as a multi-armed image, graphically portraying God's astounding versatility an superhuman might, can epitomize an entire theology. Myths plumb depths that the intellect can see only obliquely. Parables and legends present ideals in the ways that make hearers long to embody them--vivid support for Irwin Edman's contention that "it is a myth, not a mandate, a fable, not a logic by which people are moved." (The World's Religions, 50th Anniversary Edition, pp 34-35.)
What is the relationship between mythology, theology, and science? Where do we find myths which reveal the psychology in our theology? We find these stories in the images we offer others, for instance through theory, public policy, and media, and also in the private places where we are moved by our conscious and unconscious convictions. Can we find myth right in the heart of science? Yes, at least in some sciences. The word 'myth' can be helpful to use when trying to understand the overlap between laboratory science and cultural understandings of our human reality. Sometimes it is possible to perceive myths that are invisible to believers by attempting to step outside customary frames of reference. When one probes one's own belief systems in general, one may then wonder about the specific convictions behind, for instance, the assumptions of science. When theologians probe the assumptions and self-understandings of scientists, they can sometimes perceive myths that are invisible to the scientific believers. With this--and with the lifelong work of Huston Smith in mind--this meeting of the PCTS will undertake an imaginal exploration of the heart of belief, from the origins of theology to the heart of science.
Paper Session - Friday, April 13, 2-5 pm
Relating Mythology and Theology
Brandon Williamscraig (Association Building Community)
"Theopoetics and Mythopsychology" (pdf, doc)
Respondent is Robert Walters (Joseph Campbell Foundation, wikipedia bio)
Durwood Foster (PSR, Emeritus)
"Huston Smith’s Princely Path" (pdf, doc)
Respondent is Phil Cousineau (bio)
Public Lecture - Friday, 7-8:30 pm
Gaymon Benett (Fred Hutchinson Center for Cancer Research)
The Making of Secular Salvation: How Myth and Metaphor Can Shape Laboratory Practice, and with it Our Shared Biological Futures
2012 marks the 10-year anniversary of the articulation and rise of “synthetic biology.” Synthetic biology’s advocates promise a future for biological engineering in which organisms can be made from scratch, complex systems can be redesigned and set free from evolutionary constraints, and in which an ethos of design and know-how will begin to displace the need for discovery and understanding. Synthetic biology has become a prominent feature of governmental discussions about how to leverage and regulate contemporary biology. It has become a darling of venture capitalists who cast it as the means to a hoped-for biotech revolution. It has been institutionalized by elite research universities. And it has become the target of anti-globalization and civil society activists worldwide. Curiously—and crucially for theological reflection—for all its profile and prominence, synthetic biology is really more brand and manifesto than new scientific discipline. It can claim few significant scientific and technological breakthroughs as warrant for the attention it has received. Its status, rather, has turned on the ability of its advocates to become masters of myth and metaphor—combining the myth of secular salvation that underwrites investment in the life sciences today, with the metaphorical equivalence of biological and computational technology, an equivalence which assures us that living systems, like computers, can be programmed to meet our functional specifications. The twist is this: ten years in myth and metaphor have become constitutive elements of laboratory practice in synthetic biology; they have become more than extra-scientific assumptions and figurative means of communication. The question is: how has this internalization happened? What does it achieve? And, most importantly, what is the price to be paid?
BIO
Gaymon Bennett is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Biological Futures in the Basic Sciences Division of the Hutchinson Center in Seattle. Previously, Dr. Bennett helped create and direct the ethics component of the Synthetic Biology Research Center (SynBERC), a collaborative enterprise of UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, UCSF, and Harvard. He is the co-author of Sacred Cells? Why Christians Should Support Stem Cell Research and Designing Human Practices: An Experiment with Synthetic Biology. He received a PhD in Systematic Theology at the Graduate Theological Union and a PhD in Socio-Cultural Anthropology at UC Berkeley.
Paper Session - Saturday, April 14, 9:30 am-noon
Myth in the Heart of Science
Ted Peters (PLTS)
"Myth in the Heart of Science: Evolutionary Progress as Myth in Astrobiology and UFOs" (pdf, doc)
Respondent is Lou Ann Trost, San Jose State University
When we define myth as an extra-scientific set of assumptions that picture the world in comprehensive or ultimate scope, then this term can help us uncover and identify myths lying at the heart of science. In particular, scientists working within the field of astrobiology frequently work with an evolutionary myth, a metanarrative that assumes biological evolution is progressive, leading to increased intelligence, to science, and to secular salvation both on Earth and elsewhere in outer space. Curiously, this myth is shared with UFO aficionados and the wider culture. This ETI Myth reflects a pre-modern religious impulse distorted in its modern secular disguise. Even if we encourage and celebrate the hard work of SETI scientists who are valiantly searching for new space neighbors, our diagnosis is that myth can be found in the heart of this science.
Lisa Stenmark (San Jose State University)
"Diving for Pearls: Myth in an Age of Technology" (pdf, docx)
Respondent is Braden Molhoek (GTU)
Photographer puts new spin?
I caught a glance of the cover of the 2012 L.L. Bean Summer catalogue today, and marvelled. I've been working on a paper for the Pacific Coast Theological Society on one of my favorite topics--the way mythology helps us understand ourselves and the cultures we create--and could not have asked for a better example.
To celebrate their 100th anniversary, L.L. Bean has chosen to recreate painted catalog covers from the past as photographs.
The Portland Press Herald reports the following:
L.L. Bean opted to re-create the four covers as a way to pay homage to the original illustrations and to connect the store's illustrious past to what it hopes will be a long and vibrant future.
PHOTOS THAT PORTRAY VALUES
L.L. Bean traditionally has hired artists, oftentimes Maine artists, to paint illustrations for its catalog covers. That tradition began with the earliest catalogs, and continues today as a way to link the outfitter with Maine's rich tradition of art and culture. The paintings generally project inviting images of Maine and the lifestyles of people who spend time outdoors.
The four special covers will tell stories and convey images and values at the core of the retailer's mission, said L.L. Bean's creative director, Marcia Minter of Portland. They were chosen carefully, and reflect four of the most popular catalog covers over time, she said.
"L.L. Bean is not just about selling stuff. L.L. Bean is also about a set of values," Minter said. "In each of these covers, you get a sense of those values. There is an element of family portrayed in every cover, of getting outdoors with your family and the special moments that happen when you do that."
Reproduced on this site at Bob Keyes - Photographer puts new spin -- sign in required.
Why is this news?
What caught my eye about the cover, even before I knew it was a reproduction, is the direct appeal to a particular mythology and demographic. L.L. Bean's tradition, from "the earliest catalogs, and continu[ing] today" has to do with "project[ing] inviting images of Maine and the lifestyles of people who spend time outdoors." As one might expect from 1956 advertising, the lifestyle under consideration is that utopian fantasy now mostly dreamed of by those pictured--middle class white people who spend time buying products which suggest the outdoors.
That L.L. Bean knows its target demographic is not news, nor is the fact that it clings to gambits that get people to buy things by aligning with their gender stereotypes, class and race predjudices, and other less than savory motivations. Paying advertising professionals to address the right demographic with a compelling message is what corporations do, especially when their expressed purpose is to sell comodities to those identified as potential consumers.
What matters is how a citizen understands this process. It has become a survival necessity to see the world that is being created by the products and messages being bought and sold today in almost every moment of life. What makes this cover retrospective worth writing about is that these tactics still work, rather than being seen as a bit sad and naive. Your response to their mythologizing is news.
The Big News of the past fifty years has been the number of people who don't seem to notice that the way they think, feel, believe, and vote, with dollars as well as ballots, is being crafted with little concern beyond mass production and viral sales. It must be said that few individual corporations or advertising campaigns are responsible for legally actionable false-advertising, to hoodwink so you don't get what you pay for. At the same time, almost every advertising campaign of any size would like you to buy a single world view--one way of looking at things that is not in your best interest because it is too simple. If we define "family" without thinking, for instance, or fail to notice the ways our children's loyalties and attention are bought and sold, we set ourselves up for casting our financial votes for those who have decided they cannot afford to consider the needs of human beings, i.e. us, much less other creatures and the best decisions being sought in relationship to entire ecosystems.
Again, I do not mean to imply in this article that any illegal activity is taking place. I merely draw your attention to the mythological facts. Keyes of the Portland Press Herald quotes L.L. Bean's creative director, Marcia Minter: "The four special covers will tell stories and convey images and values at the core of the retailer's mission." This storytelling involves activating a mythology, perhaps "Americana", which conveys core images and values in a way that bespeaks a mission that is devoted to retail sales.
The covers "were chosen carefully" because "L.L. Bean is not just about selling stuff. L.L. Bean is also about a set of values." Any set of values being sold, however, is not a simple transaction. When you buy generalities you also bring home specifics. The "element of family [being] portrayed in every cover" is a specific idea of family, class, race, and a way of life that, when believed, can lead to a very narrow world view indeed. When you respond to the covers by "liking" them on Facebook or buying the products they conceal, what message are you sending?
This article is also available at http://www.examiner.com/culture-and-mythology-in-national/values-for-sale
New Free Aiki and Golden Bears Aikido quarter page cards are here
Nonviolent Peaceforce and Peace Brigades International speak at US Institute for Peace March 21 2012
from an email - BW
Dear Friends: At 10:00 am Eastern Time, Wednesday morning March 21, Nonviolent Peaceforce and Peace Brigades International will speak at US Institute for Peace in Washington DC. Fortunately, there are two ways to participate!
You can register to attend the event, or you may watch the live webcast beginning at 10:00am EST on March 21, 2012 at www.usip.org/webcast. Here are the details: Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping: An Emerging Approach to Civilian Protection and Violence Prevention
March 21, 2012, 10:00am-11:30am EST Location: Please read: Important information for guests attending public events at USIP. From South Sudan to Sri Lanka, Guatemala to Nepal, specially trained, unarmed civilians are protecting civilians under threat and preventing violence from escalating in areas of violent conflict. Working on the basis of strict nonpartisanship and at the invitation of local civil society, these peacekeepers apply field-tested strategies that create space for local actors to transform conflicts, protect human rights defenders and others made vulnerable by the conflict, as well as supporting local violence prevention mechanisms. They bring on-the-ground realities of violent conflicts to national, regional and international attention. Their presence provides a bridge between peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) and Peace Brigades International (PBI), two of the leaders in unarmed civilian protection, will present how peacekeeping works without guns, what lessons are being learned, and how this practice can now be brought to scale. Jit Man Basnet If you can't make it to Washington DC, check out the webcast! Thank you for your continued support. With hope and resolve, |
PCTS respondent invitation update for April 13-14th meeting
UPDATE
We are seeking a respondent to Durwood Foster's paper celebrating the life and work of Huston Smith. Would you like to read it and prepare a brief response? Junior scholars please do not hesitate to apply. Your participation would be most welcome!
Please contact me right away.
brandon at culturesmith dot com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdwilliamscraig
Please call 972-503-6991 to schedule face-to-face client/consultation times.
We are happy to welcome Lisa Stenmark of San Jose State University, who has agreed to give her paper entitled "Diving for Pearls: Myth in an Age of Technology".
From Brandon WilliamsCraig: Scholars of mythology, religion, and psychology, please consider joining Huston Smith and a host of renowned theological scholars, and myself, in considering the relationship between myth and theology.
Come (with or without a paper) to the next meeting of the Pacific Coast Theological Society on April 13th and 14th of this year at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Contact me to RSVP or for more information, if desired.
Call for Papers: Professor Smith requested this session to examine the relationship between myth and theology. I hope to choose a Saturday paper/presenter by February 13th, so everyone involved may have a chance to read and digest the material that will be presented. Junior scholars and those from underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to make proposals. Sorry for the short notice.
Please email brandon at culturesmith dot com and attach your proposal, which should include a CV and abstract of no more than 500 words, addressing the relationship between myth and theology. Various examples of previous papers on other topics may be found here: http://www.pcts.org/journal/papers.html
Looking Forward,
Brandon WilliamsCraig Ph.D.
ACLU on Google Privacy Changes
Published on American Civil Liberties Union (http://www.aclu.org)
Source URL: http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/googles-new-privacy-settings-go-effect-tomorrow
Google's New Privacy Settings Go Into Effect Tomorrow
Today is -- February 29, 2012
Tomorrow, Google will put in place a new privacy policy across the vast majority of Google products and platforms. As we told you when they announced the new policy back in January, the new policy makes clear that Google will, for the first time, combine the personal data you share with any one of its products or sites across almost all of its products and sites (everything but Google Chrome, Google Books, and Google Wallet) in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of you. And short of signing out of your Google account, there is no opting out.
Earlier this week, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, remarked that the new policy remarked that the new policy forced users to make "a fairly binary and somewhat brutal choice."
If you're wondering why you should be concerned about this, consider this: have you ever Googled something you didn't want to tell your parents/spouse/friends/doctor about? Had a conversation over e-mail that you didn't want broadcast to the world? As of tomorrow, your e-mail content and search terms could influence ads you see on any Google site. So, if you're watching a YouTube video with friends or family, you could potentially see an ad based on what you assumed was a private e-mail conversation or a personal Google search appear.
Thankfully, our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Daily Mail, and others have put together a handy guide on how to clear your Web history before the change takes place and how to "pause" collection of your Web history to make all of your data anonymous.
As the Digital Journal reported last week:
Go to the Google homepage and sign into your account.
Click the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper-right hand corner of your screen.
Click accounts settings.
Find the "Services section."
Under "Services" there is a sub-section that reads "View, enable, disable web history." Click the link next to it that reads: "Go to Web History."
Click on "Remove all Web History."
When you click on "Remove all Web History," a message appears that says "Web History is Paused." What this means is that while Google will continue gathering and storing information about your web history it will make all data anonymous, that is, Google will not associate your Web History information with your online accounts and will therefore be unable to send you customized search results.
Google's ability to gather personalized information about you by assigning data to your Gmail and YouTube accounts will remain "Paused" till you click "Resume."
As stewards of our digital lives, companies like Google should be the first line of defense when it comes to keeping your private information private. Sign our petition to let Google and other Internet companies that you use that you expect them to stand with you and protect your privacy.
Learn more about digital privacy: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
Peace Practices at TRS 20120319
Aikido For Your Child's Success
a presentation by Brandon WilliamsCraig Ph.D., 4th dan
Chief Instructor at Free Aiki Dojo and Golden Bears Aikido at UC Berkeley
The Renaissance School
3668 Dimond Avenue in Oakland
Monday, March 19, 2012
7:00 p.m.
On Facebook Peace Practices Cause http://www.causes.com/causes/100237-peace-practices-whole-community-martial-nonviolence-training MNv http://www.facebook.com/MartialNonviolence http://twitter.com/martialnonvi http://twitter.com/peacepractices Far and wide (a Google Search) https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=%22HOW+AIKIDO+SUPPORTS+MONTESSORI+EDUCATION%22 |
20120214+BW+Recommendations
Ashok Panikkar on the right to offend.
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