Past Programs

Canterbury Forum Past Programs Archive

 

Topics


Apocalypticism

Church and State

Environmental Stewardship

Exploring Sacred Literature

Fundamentalism and Atheism

Interfaith Perspectives 

Jesus in History, the Bible, and Culture

Peace, Social Justice, and Ethics

Perspectives within Christianity

Religion and Culture 

Religion and Science 

Religion, Gender, and Sexuality 

Religious History

 

 

Apocalypticism

 


The Book of Daniel

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Rev. Dr. Judith Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

Narrating the End of the World:

The Social and Psychological Function of Apocalyptic Literature

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Dr. Brian Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

The End-Times Encoded:

Dispensationalism, the Bible, and History

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Dr. Brian Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College



Church and State

 

What's the matter with Christians?

Sunday, October 27, 2024
Dr. Donna Hoffman
Department of Political Science, UNI


Religion and the Roberts Court
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Dr. Scott Peters
Department of Political Science, UNI


How Did We Get Here?
Evangelicals in the Age of Trump

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Doug Smith, retired Christian broadcaster


Evangelicals and the 2016 Election

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Doug Smith Christian radio station manager


The Hobby Lobby Decision:

Corporations and Religious Freedom

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Dr. John Johnson

Department of History, UNI

 

Faith and the Founders:

Religion and the Creation of America

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Dr. Hal Wohl

Emeritus Professor of History, UNI

 

Church and State in America:
A panel discussion featuring faculty from the University of Northern Iowa

Sunday, November 6, 2005

Dr. Scott Peters, Department of Political Science

Dr. Charlotte Wells, Department of History

Dr. John Johnson, Department of History

 

 

Environmental Stewardship


 

Caring for the Air: Lutheran Perspectives on Stewardship of Our Atmospheric Environment

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Dr. Alan Czarnetzki

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNI


Food or Fuel? The Ethanol Dilemma

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Dr. Fred Kirschenmann

Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University

 

Creating a Regenerative Society:
The Role of World Religions in the Survival of Creation Sunday, March 18, 2007

Rev. Ben Webb

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Cedar Falls

 

 

 

Exploring Sacred Literature



"The Travails of Translation"

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Professor of History, University of Northern Iowa

 

The Book of Job as Subversive Literature

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Dr. John Burnight

Department of Philosophy & World Religion, UNI


The St. John’s Bible:

A 21st-Century Hand-Copied Bible

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Dr. Brian Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

Translating the Bible

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of History, UNI

 

YHWH:

The Warrior God

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Dr. Brian Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

Naming Evil:

The Devil in Scripture and Faith

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Kevin Sanders

Mentor, Education for Ministry, University of the South

 

Creating the Bible:

Revisiting the Word of God and the Work of Man

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Dr. Robert Dise Department of History, UNI

 

First Christmas/Last Week:

The Gospels as Biography

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Rev. Dick Clark,

St. Timothy’s UMC, Cedar Falls

 

The Gospel of Judas and Gnostic Christianity

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of Philosophy and Religion, UNI

 

Creating the Bible:

The Word of God and The Work of Man

Sunday, March 5, 2006

Dr. Robert Dise

Department of History, UNI




Fundamentalism and Atheism



Fascism and Fundamentalism:
Extreme Reactions to a Changing World
Sunday, March 25, 2018

Dr. Robert Dise

Department of History, UNI


Science, Faith, and the New Atheism

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Dr. John Haught

Senior Fellow, Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University

 

The New Atheism’s Yang to Religious Fundamentalism’s Yin

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dr. Dave McCalley

Emeritus Prof. of Biology, UNI

 

The Christian Right:

Fundamentalism and Politics Since the 1960s

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Dr. Robert Dise

Department of History, UNI

 

The Origins of Christian Fundamentalism

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Dr. Robert Dise

Department of History, UNI

 

Interfaith Perspectives



A Discussion of Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True

Sunday, September 10, 2023

Dr. John Burnight
Department of Philosophy and World Religions
University of Northern Iowa


Spirituality and the Sublime

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Dr. Francis Degnin

Department of Philosophy and World Religions, UNI


Hindu and Muslim Violence in India

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Dr. Louis E. Fenech

Department of History, UNI


Abraham, Moses, and Jesus in the Qur'an:
The Biblical Heritage in Muslim Scripture

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Dr. John Burnight

Department of Philosophy & World Religions, UNI


The Mormons

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Dr. Betty DeBerg Head (ret.),

Department of Philosophy & World Religion, UNI

 

The Messiah Myth:

The Jewish Perspective

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Dr. Hal Wohl Emeritus Professor of History, UNI

 

Muslim Women and the hijab:

Minority Religious Freedom in France

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Dr. Emily Machen

Department of History, UNI

 

Jewish Law:

A Rabbi’s Perspective

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaum

Sons of Jacob Synagogue, Waterloo

 

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity:

An Imam’s Perspective

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Dr. Mohammed Fahmy

Imam of Masjid Al-Noor, Waterloo

 

A Rumor About the Jews:

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Dr. Hal Wohl

Emeritus Professor of History, UNI

 

Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Dr. James Robinson

Department of Religion, UNI

 

The Sikhs and Sacred Martyrdom

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Dr. Lou Fenech,

Department of History, UNI

 

Sunni, Shi’a and More:

Diversity Within Islam

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of Philosophy and World Religions, UNI

 

Judaisms in America

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Dr. Hal Wohl,

Emeritus Professor of History, UNI

President, Sons of Jacob Synagogue,

 

Enhancing Interfaith Effectiveness

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum

Sons of Jacob Synagogue, Waterloo

 

Living among Christians:

The Muslim and Jewish Perspective

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Dr. Mohammed Fahmy,

Imam of the Cedar Valley Muslim Community

Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaum,

Sons of Jacob Synagogue, Waterloo

 

Do We Really Understand Muslims and Islam?

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Prof. Mohammed Fahmy

Department of Industrial Technology, UNI

Imam of the Cedar Valley Muslim community




Jesus in History, the Bible, and Culture

 

 

Does the Bible Present

a Historically Accurate View of Jesus?

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Department of Religion, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

 

Understanding Jesus Today

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Rev. Dick Clark

St. Timothy’s United Methodist Church

 

The Jesus of History and the Jesus of Popular Culture

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of Religion, UNI



Peace, Social Justice, and Ethics


Public Libraries in the Current Age of Book Bans and Censorship

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Dr. Johnnie Blunt

Rod Library

University of Northern Iowa


The God Within:

Black Liberation Theology and My Journey

Sunday, September 26th, 2021

Dr. Rev. Belinda Creighton-Smith

Pastor, Faith Temple Baptist Church, Waterloo


How To Be An Anti-Racist:

Reflections from a Community Book Read

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Rev. Abraham Funchess

Pastor, Jubilee United Methodist Church, Waterloo


Our Epidemic of Gun Violence

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Rev. Abraham Funchess

Pastor, Jubilee United Methodist Church, Waterloo

Human Rights Director, City of Waterloo

The Poverty on Our Doorstep

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Tom Marrah

Operation Threshold


Liberation Theology:

The Fight for Social Justice in Central America

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Dr. Fernando Calderon

Department of History, UNI


Exploring "Personhood"

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Dr. Francis Degnin Department of Philosophy and World Religions, UNI


Anti-Catholic Violence in 19th-Century America

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Dr. Biff Rocha

Director of Campus Ministry

St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center


Sexual Trafficking in Iowa

Sunday, August 28, 2016

The Coalition against Human Trafficking Tri-State Area (Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin):

Sr. Irene Lukefahr, BVM

Sr. Diane Rapozo, BVM

Dr. Kim Hilby,

Department of Socioology, University of Dubuque

The Church and the Rwanda Genocide:

Collusion, Cooperation, and Power

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Dr. Donna J. Maier

Department of History, UNI

 

Decolonizing Christianity:

Native Americans and Western Religion

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Dr. Leisl Carr-Childers

Department of History, UNI

 

Same-Sex Marriage:

The Landmark SCOTUS Decision Obergefell vs. Hodges

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Dr. John Johnson Department of History, UNI

 

Death Panels and the Nanny State:

Truth and Fiction in Health Care Reform

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Dr. Francis Degnin

Department of Philosophy & World Religions, UNI

 

Reducing Distance:

Building Solidarity and Relationship with Persons in Prison

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Dr. Jenny McBride

Department of Religion and Regents Chair in Ethics, Wartburg College

 

Workplace Spirituality and Social Entrepreneurship

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Dr. Tim Ewest

Department of Business Administration, Wartburg College

 

Iowa’s Diversifying Peoples and Religions

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Dr. Mark Grey

Department of Sociology, UNI

Director of Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration

 

Torture: Ethics and Pragmatism

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Dr. Francis Degnin

Department of Philosophy & World Religions, UNI

 

Discipleship and Community:

Breaking Down the Walls That Divide Us

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Rev. Maureen Doherty

Director, New City Ministries

 

Alzheimer’s, Ethics, and Faith

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Dr. Francis Degnin

Department of Philosophy & World Religions, UNI

 

Theodicy: Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Dr. Brian Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

Love Thy Neighbor:

A Parkersburg Tornado Documentary

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Dr. Jay Lees

Department of History, UNI

 

When Peace and Justice Appear in Conflict:

Hard Choices in the Prosecution of Genocide,
Crimes Against Humanity, and War Crimes

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Stephen J. Rapp

Prosecutor, United Nations Tribunal for Sierra Leone

 

Immigration and Faith: Lessons from Postville

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Dr. Mark Grey

Department of Sociology, UNI

Director of Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration

 

Torture and America:

Moral, Legal, and International Implications

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01)

 

Building Bridges between Iran and the United States

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Dr. Patricia Shelly

Professor of Bible and Religion,

Bethel College (Kansas)

Past Director, Mennonite Central Committee Palestine Program

 

Just War: Moral Guide or Oxymoron?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Thomas Kessler

Peace & Justice Center of the Cedar Valley

 

The Idolatry of the Marketplace

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Rev. Dr. Dave Wood

First Presbyterian Church, Waterloo

 

A Prophetic Voice for Peace: Rabbi Abraham Heschel

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Prof. Harold Kasimow

Grinnell College

 

The Soul of Society: Teaching Social Justice

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Fr. George Karnik

​​


Perspectives within Christianity


"You Were Predestined For This!
(The 'Frozen Chosen'  & American Presbyterianism)"
Sunday, April 21. 2024
The Rev. Johnnie Janssen
Cedar Heights Presbyterian Chrc
Cedar Falls, Iowa


"The People Called Methodists: 

 A Methodical Look at the Movement the Wesleys Started"

Sunday, April 23, 2023

The Rev. David Glenn-Burns
Director, ThreeHouse Campus Ministry
serving the University of Northern Iowa community


"The Synod at the Halfway Point:

What has the Listening Church Heard?"

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Dr. Kristin Colberg

Associate Professor of Theology

St. John’s School of Theology and Seminary

St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota


Who are these crazy Episcopalians?

Where did they come from? What are they doing now?

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Rev. Elizabeth Duff Popplewell

Rector, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Cedar Falls, IA


Orthodox Christianity

Sunday, March 25, 2021

Dr. Alicja Boruta-Sadkowski

Department of History, UNI


The Baptists: A Study in Diversity

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Rev. Joe Greemore

Waterloo First American Baptist Church


The Few, the Proud, the Saved:

Limited Atonement in the Reformation--and Today! Sunday, May 1, 2016

Dr. Charlotte Wells

Department of History, UNI

 

The Jesuits and the First Jesuit Pope

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Dr. Charlotte Wells

Department of History, UNI



 

      Religion and Culture



America in Ten Churches
Sunday, February 25, 2024

Dr. Tom Connors

Department of History
University of Northern Iowa


Public Prayer for Public Schools:
The Road to Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022)

 Sunday, October 8, 2023

Dr. Michael Graziano

Department of Philosophy and World Religions
University of Northern Iowa


The Role of African-American Music in Worship

Sunday, March 26, 2023

John Roberts, Ed.D.
Choir accompanist and pianist
Waterloo First United Methodist Church


Orthodoxy, Nation, and State in Putin’s Russia

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Dr. Konrad Sadkowski Department of History, UNI


Religion and Popular Culture

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Rev. Nate Nims

Waterloo First United Methodist Church


Celtic Sacred Space and Irish Christian Pilgrims

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Dr. Tom Connors Department of History, UNI


Sharing the Gospel in a

“Spiritual but not Religious Age”

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Rev. Brian Beckstrom

Campus Chaplain, Wartburg College

 

Christian Broadcasting: An Insider’s Perspective

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Doug Smith

Station Manager, KNWS Radio

 

Contemplative Christianity: The Proof Is in the Practice

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Bill Witt

Cistercian Lay Associate

 

The Amanas:
From Religious Commune to Tourist Attraction

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Dr. Brian Roberts

Department of History, UNI

 

The Blood of Jesus:
Cinema Looks At the Black Religious Experience

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Dr. Gloria Gibson

Executive Vice President, Provost, and Professor, UNI

 

Diversity Within the Black Church

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Rev. Dr. Michael Blackwell

Director, Center for Multicultural Education, UNI




Religion and Science



Science, the Rise of Fundamentalism, and the Scopes Trial

Sunday, February 26th, 2023

Dr. Robert L. Dise, Jr.

Associate Professor of History, University of Northern Iowa

 


"The Limits of Literalism:

Faith, Science and Ambiguity in the Trial of Galileo"

Sunday, August 28th, 2022

Dr. Charlotte Wells

Professor Emerita, Department of History

University of Northern Iowa


Kepler, Galileo and Newton:

Faith and Magic in the Beginnings of the Scientific Revolution

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Dr. Charlotte Wells

Professor Emerita, Department of History

University of Northern Iowa


Pandemic Lessons from the Past

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Profs. Bob Dise, Charlotte Wells, and Emily Machen

UNI Department of History


The Religious Significance of Geology

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Dr. Lynn Brant

Emeritus Professor of Geology, UNI


Cosmology: The Universe through Biblical Eyes

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Dr. Brian Jones Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

Evolution: Teaching the Controversy

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Dr. Bob Dise Department of History, UNI

 

Personal Piety and Scientific Inspiration

Sunday, September 28th, 2014

Dr. Daniel Black

Chair, Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Engineering, Wartburg College

 

God and Evolution

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Dr. John Haught

Senior Fellow in Science and Religion, Georgetown University

 

Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Evolution

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Dr. Dave McCalley UNI Emeritus Prof. of Biology, UNI

 

 

 

Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

 

Abortion Rights: The Road from Roe and Casey to Dobbs 

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Dr. Francis Degnin

Department of Philosophy and World Religions, UNI


Women in Politics

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Dr. Donna Hoffman

Department of Political Science, UNI


Feminine Images of God

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Rev. Dr. Judith Jones Department of Religion, Wartburg College

 

Somaphobia:
Gays and Lesbians in the Black Church

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Rev. Dr. Michael Blackwell Director, Center for Multicultural Education, UNI

 

The Bible, Mary Magdalene,

and Mary the Mother of Jesus

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Prof. Susan Hill

Department of Philosophy and Religion, UNI

 

Women in the Church: A clergy panel

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Rev. Pam Ulffers, United Methodist Church

Rev. Linda Pflugfelder, Presbyterian Church, USA

Rev. Maureen Doherty, Episcopal Church, USA

 

Gays, Lesbians, and the Church:

A clergy panel discussion

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Rev. Anne Lippincott, United Methodist Church

Rev. Diane Dardon, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Rev. Brad Braley, Presbyterian Church, USA

Rev. Ben Webb, Episcopal Church, USA

 

Homosexuality and the Bible

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Rev. Dick Clark

St. Timothy’s United Methodist Church



Religious History

 

 

Faith and People: Experiencing the English Reformation

Sunday, April 24, 2022 (Zoom)

Dr. Jennifer McNabb

Professor and Head Department of History

University of Northern Iowa


“Searching for Sodom and Gomorrah and Its Sin”

Sunday, October 24th 2021 (Zoom)

Dr. Brian C. Jones

Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Wartburg College


Holy Warriors:
Four Fighters for Emancipation before the Civil War

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Dr. Wally Hettle

Department of History, UNI


The Wars of the Reformation:

Why They Still Matter Sunday, February 25, 2018

Dr. Charlotte Wells

Department of History, UNI


Luther, the Catholic!

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Dr. Charlotte Wells Department of History, UNI


Heresy and the Church in the Middle Ages:

The Spiritual and Conventual Franciscans

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Dr. Jay Lees

Department of History, UNI


Religious Conflict in Early Christianity

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Dr. Bob Dise

Department of History, UNI


Religious Dissent in Ancient Judaism

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of History, UNI


The Origins of Heaven and Hell

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Dr. Ken Atkinson Department of History, UNI

 

The Temple in Jerusalem:

From Solomon to the Arab Conquest

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of History, UNI

 

Calling All Crusaders!

Understanding the Calls for the First Two Crusades

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Dr. Jay Lees

Department of History, UNI

 

Sodom and Gomorrah:

Myth, Legend, and History

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Dr. Brian Jones

Department of Religion & Philosophy, Wartburg College

 

Where Did Jesus Sit At the Last Supper?

The Sites, Smells, and Sounds of Early Christian Worship

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of History, UNI

 

Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection in Jesus’ Time

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Dr. Ken Atkinson

Department of Philosophy & World Religions, UNI

 

Why Them? Why Then? The Great Witch Craze

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Dr. Charlotte Wells

Department of History, UNI

From Tents to TV:

Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dr. Robert Martin

Chair, Department of History, UNI

 

When Christianity Was Jewish

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Rev. Dr. Judith Jones

Department of Religion, Wartburg College