Project Civil Discourse
Speaker/Discussion Series
Arizona Humanities Council
The Ellis-Shackelford House
1242 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
(across Central Ave. from Burton Barr Public Library)
no charge to attend
AHC announces the launch of the Project Civil Discourse Speaker/Discussion Series scheduled in conjunction with the Roosevelt Row’s "Third Fridays" artwalk in downtown Phoenix. Designed to provide issue-related insights and engage participants in thoughtful discussion, the series features presentations addressing contemporary issues, followed by facilitated conversations incorporating a simple civil discourse technique. Each month will feature a different speaker and subject, lively civil discourse, and light refreshments. Free parking is available on Culver Street, or in the small parking lot behind the building.
Friday, May 16th, 5:30-7:00 PM
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Walls, Boundaries, Lines in the Sand, and a Yankee Poet
Beginning with a reading of Robert Frost’s "Mending Wall," this presentation develops several ways of looking at the separations we erect between one another in order to protect ourselves, to confine what we deem dangerous, to declare ownership, to delineate sacred places, and ultimately to define ourselves. Drawing upon illustrations ranging from the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall, from suburban property lines to fences around traditional cemeteries in the rural Southwest, this presentation discusses that no matter who or where we are, there are always more ways of thinking about lines in the sand than we may recognize at first.
Dick George, Tempe
After stints as a farm laborer, short-order cook, and jazz drummer, Dick George earned graduate degrees in English literature and photography. Following a long career as editor and staff photographer at the Phoenix Zoo, he taught courses in photography at ASU. His passion is exploring small towns in the Southwest. Descanse En Paz, George’s traveling photo exhibition, is visiting selected museums in the region, and he is currently finishing a book to accompany the exhibit.
Friday, June 20th, 5:30-7:00 PM
Religion, Politics, and American Public Life
At the heart of much contemporary cultural misunderstanding is the American tendency to espouse a rhetoric that defines religiousness as a private affair, while the historical and sociological evidence windows the public dimensions of religious life. American history demonstrates the continuing vitality of this unusual dialectic, which will play a significant role as traditions like Islam, with an avowed public platform, gain prominence in the American setting. What patterns are discernible in the rhetoric and actual historical manifestations of religion in relation to government, education, and law in the American story? May these patterns be helpful guides as we contemplate the role of religion in public life in the new religious America?
Richard E. Wentz, Flagstaff
Richard Wentz is founder of the Religious Studies Department at Arizona State University, which today is one of the leading departments of its kind in American public universities. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of religion in America from George Washington University. Currently he is a Professor Emeritus, teaching occasional seminars and residing in Flagstaff. Long an advocate of narrative (story) as a means of religious, cultural, and self-understanding, Dr. Wentz has been a storyteller, lecturer, and leader of workshops in the facilitation of storytelling. He has been active in Valley theatre and is the author of numerous articles and books, including Why People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion, The Culture of Religious Pluralism, and Religion in the New World (currently being revised under the title American Religious Traditions).
