12
Spring 2014 Awards and Outstanding Achievements
Emily Lawton Theus received the Rising Senior Award for academic excellence, presented each year to a religious
studies major selected by the faculty in recognition for outstanding academic achievement both in overall excellence
and in particular as a religious studies major.
Kitra Liora Monnier was given the Elizabeth Dodge Clark book
award, presented each year to a graduating senior who has majored in
religious studies and met the four criteria for this award: 1) Work of
distinction in courses offered by the department; 2) Distinction in the
conception and execution of a senior thesis; 3) Evidence of commitment to humanitarian and religious values transcending parochial
boundaries; 4) Demonstrated interest in a career of service.
Beloved Professor
Remembered
Seven students were awarded Mungo Pre-seminary Scholarships:
Amy Bassett, Hampton Harmon, James Brown, Shelby Spears,
David Graves, Renique Richberg, and Cody Miller.
The following Religious Studies majors graduated spring 2014 with
honors:
Lauren N. Marsh : Summa Cum Laude / South Carolina Honors
College BA With Honors / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Kitra L. Monnier : Magna Cum Laude/ South Carolina Honors
College BA With Honors / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Nicholas D. Perez: Cum Laude / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Joseph B. Studemeyer: Magna Cum Laude/ South Carolina Honors College BA With Honors / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Matthew A. Thomas: Magna Cum Laude
Morgan V. Ross: Cum Laude
Professor Daniel Stuart (center) presented the
awards to Emily Theus (left) and Kitra Monnier
(right) at spring 2014 Awards Day ceremonies.
Spring 2015 Awards and Outstanding Achievements
Dr. Elon Goldstein presented the Elizabeth Dodge Clark book prize to Emily Theus on awards day in April 2015. The
Rising Senior Award, given by the College of Arts and Sciences, was discontinued. Four students received the Michael J. Mungo Pre-seminary Scholarship award in spring of 2015, to be applied toward their tuition in the upcoming
academic year: Elaine Sneider, Babs Marshall, Hampton Harmon, and James T. Brown .
The following Religious Studies majors graduated with honors summer and fall 2014 and spring 2015:
James B. Sanford: Magna Cum Laude / South Carolina Honors College BA With Honors
Amy C. Bassett: Cum Laude
Robert B. Bass: Magna Cum Laude / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Tyler P. Johnson: Summa Cum Laude
Rachel A. Strang : Magna Cum Laude
Emily L. Theus : Summa Cum Laude / South Carolina Honors College BA With Honors
Amy Bassett and Tyler Johnson each received Magellan Scholar Awards given to select students each year to help
fund a research project. This is a competitive award with the submission of a research, scholarship, or creative project proposal developed in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Selection is based on the project’s educational and
intellectual merit, the potential impact of the project, and the student’s previous academic success.
Amy, with her mentor, Dr. Katja Vehlow, completed a research project in Germany on “The Relief Society in Freiberg,
Germany.” Tyler’s research was done with Dr. Daniel Stuart and focused on “Critical Reflections on Contemporary
Discussions of Ethics in the ‘Zhuangzi’.”
Harold Wendell French was always simply
known to everyone as Hal. And around the University of South
Carolina campus, you usually
didn’t even need
to add his last
name for people
to know just exactly whom you
meant. He joined
the Department
of Religious
Studies to cover
the area of Asian
religions and
later served as
Chair of the department until he
retired in 1995.
Although retired,
he continued to
teach in both the
graduate and
undergraduate
programs, direct theses for both graduate and
undergraduate students, and participate in all the
activities and events of the department. He
chaired the committee for the Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin Lectures in Moral, Ethical, and Religious Studies until at age 80 he requested the
duties be passed on to someone else.
He continued to teach the department’s courses in
Asian studies as well as the Psychology of Religion; Gandhi, King and non-violence; Herman
Hesse; and any number of popular courses over
the years. Until the end he could fill classes of 60
to 70. Teaching for both Religious Studies and the
South Carolina Honors College, he took groups of
Continued pg. 9
Since the last newsletter was published in the spring of 2014, we
have graduated another class of outstanding students, added new
courses to the curriculum, and brought in a number of guest
speakers. Hal French passed away in July 2014, and Kevin Lewis
retired at the end of this spring semester 2015. James Cutsinger
has succeeded Stephanie Mitchem as the Chairman of the department. Stephanie was more than happy to pass the baton. And to
round out this academic year, they are moving us out of Rutledge
for 2015-16 to do much needed repairs to this oldest building on
the university campus.
By Kevin Lewis
Early memories have faded. Colleagues have dropped away. All
three who welcomed me in my first year, 1973, Lauren Brubaker,
Don Jones, and Hal French, are deceased. Bru had founded the
Department in 1949, and the beauty of my job description from
the get-go as absolutely interdisciplinary I owe especially to him. I
was invited to make up from scratch the six courses I wished to
teach. He had been trained by Paul Tillich during his Union Seminary days, the Tillich whose lectures enthralled me as an undergrad in college.
Religion and Culture. Across the country as many functional interpretations of what this “specialty” can mean have apContinued pg. 4
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
11
2
In January the department co-sponsored two interfaith panel discussions on the USC campus: the first
on “How the Earth Speaks to Us” and the second on
“Compassion in Our Many Faiths.”
“How the Earth Speaks to Us,” co-sponsored by Religious Studies along with McKissick Museum and Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, was held on January 22nd in the second floor gallery of McKissick Museum in conjunction with an exhibit of material culture
from Native American artists of the Southeast. Representatives from five faith traditions shared insights on
the sacredness of the earth and the use of sacred
objects in their respective traditions.
Holli Emore represented the Pagan traditions, and Dr. Amarjit Singh discussed the Sikh religion. Arunima Sinha, on the
Board of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Columbia, represented Hinduism. Carl Evans, former Professor and
Chair with the Department of Religious Studies, served as moderator.
A second panel discussion was held the following week, January 29, in the Gressett Room in Harper College on the
Horseshoe. The faiths represented in this panel were: the Baha’i faith with Ethel Crawford; Buddhism with Dr. Toma
Kawaguchi; Christianity with Karen “Zarah” Starks; Islam with Chaudhry Sadiq; and Unitarian Universalism with John
Halfacre. The topic of this discussion was “Compassion in Our Many Faiths” and was co-sponsored by the Department
of Religious Studies, Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, and the Peace and Integration Council of North America.
The discussion was built around the Charter of Compassion which the panelists had read in advance. Carl Evans quoted from that document to begin the discussion: “The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and
spiritual traditions….” and then asked each of the panelists to speak briefly on three questions dealing with the ideal of
compassion, the practice of compassion, and the restoring of compassion in the context of each of the traditions represented.
You can read a fuller summary of these two events on our website at: http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/relg/interfaith-panel-discussions
Religious
Studies offices are located in
Rutledge
College, the
oldest building on the USC campus.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
is published for colleagues,
alumni, and friends by the Department of Religious Studies,
College of Arts and Sciences,
University of South Carolina,
Columbia, SC 29208.
Located in Close-Hipp suite 381
for the duration of the 2015-16
academic year.
Web site:
www.cas.sc.edu/relg
James Cutsinger, Chairman
Kevin Lewis, Editor
Mardi McCabe, Issue Editor
Kevin Lewis, professor of the creative interface
between religion and culture, is finally retiring
from the department May 2015. He inaugurated
the newsletter Spring 1987. In those early years he
would submit a folder with typewritten copy and
an envelope of photos to the USC Printing Office
where they would typeset the copy and layout the
newsletter. It was then sent out to a mailing list of
colleagues and supporters of the department
around the country and around the world. Graduate
students were given the task of putting the labels on
a few hundred newsletters, and sorting them in zipcode order (for bulk mail
rates). With the advent of computers, Kevin still typed up the copy and selected the photos, but then he submitted them on a floppy disc to the printing office. In 2005, although the newsletter was still being printed and mailed out,
we began posting it on the website, allowing for the use of full color photos.
After the economic downturn in 2008, we went to an entirely digital format,
sent in email attachment and posted to the website. Through all these changes,
Kevin’s wonderfully imaginative spirit has shaped and driven the contours of
this newsletter. His voice and sure touch will be sorely missed.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Another site I visited this summer (2015) was the First
African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA. This church is
considered the first wholly owned and operated black
church in the U.S. The core group of the community began in 1773, officially organized in 1788, and established
1859.
But such a claim of primacy competes with that of Silver
Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina or First African
Baptist in Virginia. What is important is that each of these
churches was established under the burdens of enslavement. That the churches still stand provides a glimpse
into the tenacious grit of the communities.
First African Baptist Church has an active congregation
who celebrates their history while working on behalf of
the contemporary
community.
The church building
itself embraces history: the stained
glass windows have the founders’
images.
Some of the pews were hand crafted
by enslaved people. The church was
also an Underground Railroad station: floor holes brought air into tunnels where escapees were hiding.
Whether in Casablanca or Savannah, African peoples’ religious lives
reflect cultures and values and
meaning.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
3
10
By Stephanie Mitchem
My area of research is African American religious thought. African American religions do
not make sense without understanding what is
occurring on the African continent and in the
African Diaspora.
While in Morocco last summer (2014), I was
able to tour the King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. With pride, Moroccans point to the
mosque as one of the great accomplishments
of their country. The mosque overlooks the
Atlantic Ocean and uses artistry with tile and
wood to celebrate Moroccan heritage and Muslim faith. Locally sourced materials were used
where possible.
The mosque’s high ceilings, a partially retractable roof, marble flooring, and decorative grates
are practical, providing cooling breezes for
worshippers with the sound of the ocean as a background. But there is a greater
aim than the comfort of those who worship, and that is to call to mind wind, water and sky made by the Creator.
The mosque took ten years to build, beginning in 1983. When asked how much
the mosque cost, the tour guide stated that it has been estimated at 700M “but
who really knows?” With the time and services and supplies that were donated
by Moroccans as well as other Muslim nations, it could well be more. And the
value of the mosque to the citizenry is not tied to its economic cost alone. Instead, the mosque represents the gifts of a country in relation to their faith.
Morocco was fascinating, with a monarchy that is the oldest on the African continent, working to adapt to 21st century demands. This mosque stands as a testament to people’s hopes for the future as well as their past.
Fourth annual Religious Studies lectureship co-sponsored by the Walker Institute, Islamic
World Studies, and the Peace and Integration Council of North America.
Reza Shah-Kazemi, Research Fellow with the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London as well
as Managing Editor of the Encyclopaedia Islamica, was the invited speaker
this year.
His main public lecture Monday evening, April 6 was titled: “From Tolerance
to Reverence: Spirituality and Universality in Islam.” Beginning with such diverse writers as Bernard Lewis, John Locke, and Ali Hujwiri, he brought out
the historical basis of tolerance in Islam rooted squarely, as Lewis notes, in
Islamic law itself.
Pointing out that tolerance is commonly conceived as a “reluctant acceptance, a regrettable necessity of putting up with the Other,” Shah-Kazemi
noted that with spiritual perspectives we can move beyond mere tolerance
based on the idea of an ethical norm to a genuinely transforming spiritual
quality of universality. The spirit and spirituality of Islam are the empowering
factors for the tolerance, inclusivism, and respect for diversity that is found at
the heart of the Qur’an itself. Sufism, he said, though not the whole of Islamic
spirituality is where the spiritual values of the Islamic tradition are most clearly expressed and most deeply fathomed.
That spirit of Islam, Shah-Kazemi explained, is characterized
by the universal message of the Qur’an along with the moral
and spiritual radiance of the soul of the Prophet. The morality
and ethics of the message of the Qur’an are impossible without
the virtue of spiritual principles being realized at the same time.
Kindness and charity, in even the smallest things, are prerequisites for fulfilment of morality and ethics. Upholding outward
forms of religion and law without these virtues is undermining
the religion and the law.
Ibn Arabi, one of the great philosophers of Islam, says that the
heart suffused by the spirit of Islam, the religion of Love, embraces all religious forms. In his Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, one of
the great
classics
of Sufism, Ibn Arabi famously wrote, “I follow the religion of Love/
Whatever way Love’s camels take/ Love is my religion and Love is
my faith.”
Ablutions Area
Retractable ceiling
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Go to the Qur’an, Shah-Kazemi said, with the correct perspective
of love, and all religions become present. The more deeply you go
into the specificity of Islam, the more unavoidable becomes universality. For those who know the Qur’an as the guide for our attitude
toward the religious Other, the answer to the basic question, based
on the Qur’an, opens up unavoidably into tolerance and universality. Exclusivity and intolerance become clearly seen as deviations
from the spirit of the Qur’anic discourse.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
9
4
(continued)
peared as there have been professors invited to explore it. Lucky academic credentials have helped me from the start. The freedom to find
and to be myself has kept me dedicated over the years in lecture and
seminar rooms.
Beloved Professor Remembered (continued)
students on international travel courses to China, Japan, Turkey, Greece, and elsewhere.
Hal gratefully handed over his teaching duties in the area of Asian religions when we
were able to hire three new faculty in Buddhism, Hindusim, and South Asian Studies
in 2013-14. But he continued teaching for
the Honors College and taking students
abroad for stimulating cross-cultural
learning experiences; his last class trip
was in the spring of 2014.
And in publishing, mostly of articles, reviews (and some poetry), which have been unstrategically widespread in subject matter. I
take some pride in my Lonesome: The Spiritual Meanings of American
Solitude (2009), the only sustained attempt so far, academic or otherwise, to reflect on the feeling-perception unique to North American culture that T.S. Eliot noted, if only in passing, in 1933.
In 2014, Hal had decided to retire finally
from all his university activities. His last
class was scheduled with the Honors College for Fall 2014 and he would be vacating his offices in Preston College at the
end of Spring 2015. But he had a long list
of plans for what he would be doing next.
He said there was a substantial book list
to begin enjoying and many volunteer
organizations and activities, as well as his
continued participation in interfaith organizations and activities – though no longer
in an administrative role. But he passed
away unexpectedly July 10, 2014.
But also freshening sabbatical opportunities overseas:
Durham, England, in 1985-86; a Fulbright year lecturing at the Jagiellonian in Krakow, Poland (the final year of Communist reign); a Fulbright
semester teaching in 1998 at the Islamic University of Gaza (still the
only Western academic ever to teach there); and several six-month
stints pursuing research at Cambridge University in friendly Wolfson
College (1999, 2006, 2012).
I love my wide, tall window in Rutledge 325, above the front
door to the Chapel. I remember from this vantage point viewing Pope
John Paul on the Horseshoe below riding his Pope mobile in 1987, and
the streakers dashing back and forth in 1974, aiming for recognition in
the Guinness Book of Records.
I miss the MA program the Department had for several years
until it was judged un-cost-efficient and yanked. Now, with vigorous,
ambitious new younger colleagues pursuing their various specialties, I
hope it may be returned to us. I give thanks for them as well as the
many accomplished colleagues in other Departments in Arts and Sciences who have befriended me over the years in
both academic settings and at exercise in the P.E. Center.
The Memorial Service for Hal was held
Tuesday, October 7 in Rutledge Chapel
on the Historic Horseshoe of the University of South Carolina where he taught from
With wife Rannie in Japan.
1972 until his passing in. Alumni, faculty
colleagues and friends from the Department of Religious Studies, the South Carolina Honors College, and Preston Residence College came together to remember a beloved teacher, friend, and mentor.
Many stories, memories, and tributes were shared. Former students joined retired
faculty and family to remember the man everyone knew simply as Hal.
The three years in the ‘nineties Becky and I spent as the founding Principals of USC’s first “residential college,”
Preston, were memorable and successful, by most accounts.
He touched lives with his wit, humor, and quiet wisdom. His academic style was neither somber nor pompous but jubilant, exuberant, and celebratory of life, humanity,
and spirit. He will be greatly missed by many.
So what next? Well, back to Cambridge next winter.
Bru, Hal, Don, Kevin, Carl in 1976.
Kevin & Don enjoy cigars.
With class in Turkey.
See these links for the memorials from Preston College and The Daily Gamecock
Kevin muses with the spirit of Jan Karski in Warsaw
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
With class in India.
With class in China.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
With class in Turkey.
8
5
Guest Speaker Hugh Urban spoke to several classes and gave a public lecture during his visit to
campus March 23, 2015. His lecture examined the
development, expansion and evolution of the Indian
mystical and spiritual teacher, Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh. Starting with spiritual centers in Bombay
and then Pune in India, Rajneesh, who came to be
known as Osho, moved his center to Oregon in the
1980s, gaining a large following of American and
western devotees as well both popularity and notoriety before returning to Pune in the 1990s.
Professor Urban outlined the growth of the movement, the factors affecting its growth and decline in
America, the return to India and the current spiritual center based on the teachings of Osho now, after his death.
The event was co-sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies, Walker Institute, and the Department of Religious Studies.
Hugh B. Urban, with the Department of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University, is interested in the study of secrecy in religion, particularly in relation to questions of knowledge and power. Focusing primarily on the traditions of South
Asia, he has a strong secondary interest in contemporary new religious movements, and has published articles on
Heaven's Gate, Scientology, and modern Western magic.
Two new Religious Studies courses have been approved to satisfy the Carolina
Core requirements for Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility (VSR), and Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding (AIU) respectively. Two additional courses
are soon to be proposed for the designation of Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding (GSS).
RELG 205 Morality, Ethics, and Religion (VSR) addresses values and ethics as
developed, contested, and transmitted through a variety of religious practices
offering a broad introduction to the ways that religious thought and practice impact conceptions of value and ethical norms.
RELG 206 Religion in the Arts (AIU) deals with literary, visual, and/or performance art associated with religious discourse and practice. This course addresses basic questions such as: What makes a work of art religious or sacred?
What are the social, political, and economic implications of claiming that particular works of art have been created,
blessed, or inspired by divine or otherwise supernatural agents (or, conversely, that certain works have offended or
angered divine or supernatural agents)?
RELG 101 Exploring Religion and RELG 220 Introduction to Buddhism are in the process of being submitted for approval in the core designation of Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding.
In Exploring Religion, students examine key ideas and practices of several religious traditions and discuss the ways
in which human behavior is shaped by belief in God, gods, spirits, and ancestors.
Intro to Buddhism addresses fundamental ideals of Buddhist thought and practice connecting these to real cases of
Buddhists' lives today. The course looks at ways in which the study of Buddhism sheds light on important, broader
issues presently debated within the study of religion.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Wednesday, March 25, the department of Religious Studies, along
with the Tibetan Buddhist Society of Charleston, brought Dieter
Borrmann to the Columbia campus to give a talk on the effects of
meditation on neurology and psychology.
Dr. Dieter Borrmann is in the practice of Neurology-PsychologyPsychotherapy in Emmerich, Germany. He is also a student of Tibetan Buddhism under Geshe Topgyal at the Charleston
Tibetan Society, Charleston, SC.
Dr. Borrmann spoke from the dual perspectives of both medicine
(the modern study of mind & body) and traditional Buddhist practice,
a confluence of ideas seen more and more today.
In the 1980s the Dalai Lama first proposed the idea of a neurologic
study of meditation; he asked for research on the brains of meditators to show the connection between the mind and brain. The first MRIs of experienced meditators (Tibetan monks)
showed a significant difference to the brains of meditators and nonmeditators. The remarkable results brought a flurry of further studies.
Medical research in meditation is just a little more than 20 years old and
has been focused particularly on brain imaging procedures. Current areas
and methods of research in meditation include use of MRIs and DTI
(diffusion tensure imaging), as well as EEGs, and Psychometrics, among
others.
These studies have shown that the normal decrease in gray matter with
age is slowed, stabilized and even increased in meditators. Brain changes
in meditators show shrinkage of areas of the brain associated with fear,
anger, hatred, and increased activity in the frontal lobe, the area associated with positive emotions, awareness, and creativity. In addition, the white
matter in the brain, the axions which carry the signals throughout the brain,
show an increase in connectivity and organization with as little as eight weeks of daily meditation. Studies in cognitive science and psychology have found that mindfulness, awareness, and attentiveness are better in meditators.
Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist Master of meditation and philosophy with
the Taklung Kagyu lineage Riwoche Monastery,
held a public lecture Monday, Sept 15 at 7:00 pm
in Gambrell Auditorium. The following day he
gave an in-depth workshop on meditation practice
for a number of students, faculty, and the public
who were interested.
The USC Columbia campus was included in a
tour Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche conducted of
eleven cities in five states. While here, he spoke
in Dr. Goldstein's classes: "Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice" and “Exploring Religion” and gave a public lecture
on "Mindfulness: The Mirror of the Mind." The lecture was well attended, filling Gambrell Auditorium. A reception following
the lecture allowed the audience to visit with the speaker informally. Before coming to Columbia, Rinpoche spoke a few
times at the Charleston Tibetan Society as well as the Charleston Zen Center, and Holy Cow Yoga. After his visit to Columbia he went on to Beaufort, South Carolina where he gave a final talk before leaving for Emory and Agnes Scott College in Georgia.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
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7
The fifteenth annual Joseph
Cardinal Bernardin Lecture in
Moral, Ethical, and Religious
Studies was held October 28,
2014. The speaker was Sister
Joan Chittister, OSB, Executive Director of Benetvision, a
resource and research center
for contemporary spirituality.
She is an internationally
known writer, and currently
serves as cochair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women,
a partner organization of the
UN, facilitating a worldwide
network of women peace
builders, particularly in Israel
and Palestine.
Several co-sponsors along with the Department of Religious Studies made this
event possible: the USC College of Social Work, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina.
Dr. Carl Evans, retired from the Department of Religious Studies and Bernardin
Lecture Committee member, welcomed everyone to the evening event. USC
Provost Michael Amiridis then came to the podium to greet everyone on behalf of the university, and Sister Nancy Hendershot, a
long-time supporter of the Bernardin lectures, introduced the guest
speaker.
The topic for the evening lecture was: "The Common Good: An Uncommon Search for Common Ground," referencing one of the
touchstones of the life and ministry of Cardinal Bernardin. Sister
Chittister captured the audience with her dynamic personality and
challenging presentation. Point by point she discussed what it
means in our world today to live in support of the common good.
Her appraisal of the ways in which we and our societies do not promote the common good were compelling and sobering.
“What is it that we perceive to be good for everyone?” she asked
and how should we go about getting it? In our diverse, multicultural,
pluralistic society and world, whose good, whose well-being, is going to take precedence? She then turned to look at
the Beatitudes, the characteristics of those who are “bless-ed, holy, fully developed spiritually.”
If the common good is an overarching view of the way we want our world to operate, she said, we have been given
criteria by which to form it:
▪ it must be poor in spirit
▪ in grief for those whose lives are grievous
▪ humble in our relationships with others
▪ merciful in our responses
▪ thirsting for justice in our dealings
▪ pure in heart about our motives and our behaviors,
▪ purveyors of peace
▪ and courageous and fearless in the positions we take in behalf of all these
things.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Mari Jyväsjärvi Stuart, Assistant Professor of Hinduism and South Asian Studies, has embarked on a
research project on religion and ecology in India, supported by a Provost’s Internal Humanities Grant. The
project is investigating the connections Indian Hindus
make between the human moral condition and the
condition of the environment – specifically, global climate change and the chaotic local weather patterns it
brings on.
Climate change has been called “the perfect moral
storm,” and religion – as a powerful force and motivator in people’s lives that influences their worldviews,
values, and relationship to the natural world – is at the
eye of the storm, so to speak. In India, the moral and
spiritual resonance of environmental issues is particularly rich, as Indian Hindu religious stories, myths, and
practices have always been interwoven with natural
phenomena and the very shapes of the landscape.
The primary questions driving this research are:
What cultural and religious frameworks do Indian Hindus draw on
when making sense of chaotic and unusual weather patterns
brought on by global climate change?
To what degree do they view environmental degradation as being
due to human choices and actions—as opposed to, say, divine
agency or fate?
What moral and spiritual resources does the Hindu tradition offer in
the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by a warmer and
less predictable world?
During her most recent trip to India, Professor Stuart carried out interviews (in Hindi
and in English) with environmental activists, educators, and farmers in the states of
Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and
Andhra Pradesh. The Provost’s
Grant allows her to focus on processing both the interviews and
the textual-historical material
relevant to her research questions, and to work on her first
article based on her findings.
Specifically, she will focus on
community organizations and
non-profits that incorporate cultural customs and religious practices – such as annual pilgrimages, shrines, and formal vowtaking – in spreading environmental awareness.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
6
7
The fifteenth annual Joseph
Cardinal Bernardin Lecture in
Moral, Ethical, and Religious
Studies was held October 28,
2014. The speaker was Sister
Joan Chittister, OSB, Executive Director of Benetvision, a
resource and research center
for contemporary spirituality.
She is an internationally
known writer, and currently
serves as cochair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women,
a partner organization of the
UN, facilitating a worldwide
network of women peace
builders, particularly in Israel
and Palestine.
Several co-sponsors along with the Department of Religious Studies made this
event possible: the USC College of Social Work, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina.
Dr. Carl Evans, retired from the Department of Religious Studies and Bernardin
Lecture Committee member, welcomed everyone to the evening event. USC
Provost Michael Amiridis then came to the podium to greet everyone on behalf of the university, and Sister Nancy Hendershot, a
long-time supporter of the Bernardin lectures, introduced the guest
speaker.
The topic for the evening lecture was: "The Common Good: An Uncommon Search for Common Ground," referencing one of the
touchstones of the life and ministry of Cardinal Bernardin. Sister
Chittister captured the audience with her dynamic personality and
challenging presentation. Point by point she discussed what it
means in our world today to live in support of the common good.
Her appraisal of the ways in which we and our societies do not promote the common good were compelling and sobering.
“What is it that we perceive to be good for everyone?” she asked
and how should we go about getting it? In our diverse, multicultural,
pluralistic society and world, whose good, whose well-being, is going to take precedence? She then turned to look at
the Beatitudes, the characteristics of those who are “bless-ed, holy, fully developed spiritually.”
If the common good is an overarching view of the way we want our world to operate, she said, we have been given
criteria by which to form it:
▪ it must be poor in spirit
▪ in grief for those whose lives are grievous
▪ humble in our relationships with others
▪ merciful in our responses
▪ thirsting for justice in our dealings
▪ pure in heart about our motives and our behaviors,
▪ purveyors of peace
▪ and courageous and fearless in the positions we take in behalf of all these
things.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Mari Jyväsjärvi Stuart, Assistant Professor of Hinduism and South Asian Studies, has embarked on a
research project on religion and ecology in India, supported by a Provost’s Internal Humanities Grant. The
project is investigating the connections Indian Hindus
make between the human moral condition and the
condition of the environment – specifically, global climate change and the chaotic local weather patterns it
brings on.
Climate change has been called “the perfect moral
storm,” and religion – as a powerful force and motivator in people’s lives that influences their worldviews,
values, and relationship to the natural world – is at the
eye of the storm, so to speak. In India, the moral and
spiritual resonance of environmental issues is particularly rich, as Indian Hindu religious stories, myths, and
practices have always been interwoven with natural
phenomena and the very shapes of the landscape.
The primary questions driving this research are:
What cultural and religious frameworks do Indian Hindus draw on
when making sense of chaotic and unusual weather patterns
brought on by global climate change?
To what degree do they view environmental degradation as being
due to human choices and actions—as opposed to, say, divine
agency or fate?
What moral and spiritual resources does the Hindu tradition offer in
the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by a warmer and
less predictable world?
During her most recent trip to India, Professor Stuart carried out interviews (in Hindi
and in English) with environmental activists, educators, and farmers in the states of
Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and
Andhra Pradesh. The Provost’s
Grant allows her to focus on processing both the interviews and
the textual-historical material
relevant to her research questions, and to work on her first
article based on her findings.
Specifically, she will focus on
community organizations and
non-profits that incorporate cultural customs and religious practices – such as annual pilgrimages, shrines, and formal vowtaking – in spreading environmental awareness.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
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Guest Speaker Hugh Urban spoke to several classes and gave a public lecture during his visit to
campus March 23, 2015. His lecture examined the
development, expansion and evolution of the Indian
mystical and spiritual teacher, Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh. Starting with spiritual centers in Bombay
and then Pune in India, Rajneesh, who came to be
known as Osho, moved his center to Oregon in the
1980s, gaining a large following of American and
western devotees as well both popularity and notoriety before returning to Pune in the 1990s.
Professor Urban outlined the growth of the movement, the factors affecting its growth and decline in
America, the return to India and the current spiritual center based on the teachings of Osho now, after his death.
The event was co-sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies, Walker Institute, and the Department of Religious Studies.
Hugh B. Urban, with the Department of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University, is interested in the study of secrecy in religion, particularly in relation to questions of knowledge and power. Focusing primarily on the traditions of South
Asia, he has a strong secondary interest in contemporary new religious movements, and has published articles on
Heaven's Gate, Scientology, and modern Western magic.
Two new Religious Studies courses have been approved to satisfy the Carolina
Core requirements for Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility (VSR), and Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding (AIU) respectively. Two additional courses
are soon to be proposed for the designation of Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding (GSS).
RELG 205 Morality, Ethics, and Religion (VSR) addresses values and ethics as
developed, contested, and transmitted through a variety of religious practices
offering a broad introduction to the ways that religious thought and practice impact conceptions of value and ethical norms.
RELG 206 Religion in the Arts (AIU) deals with literary, visual, and/or performance art associated with religious discourse and practice. This course addresses basic questions such as: What makes a work of art religious or sacred?
What are the social, political, and economic implications of claiming that particular works of art have been created,
blessed, or inspired by divine or otherwise supernatural agents (or, conversely, that certain works have offended or
angered divine or supernatural agents)?
RELG 101 Exploring Religion and RELG 220 Introduction to Buddhism are in the process of being submitted for approval in the core designation of Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding.
In Exploring Religion, students examine key ideas and practices of several religious traditions and discuss the ways
in which human behavior is shaped by belief in God, gods, spirits, and ancestors.
Intro to Buddhism addresses fundamental ideals of Buddhist thought and practice connecting these to real cases of
Buddhists' lives today. The course looks at ways in which the study of Buddhism sheds light on important, broader
issues presently debated within the study of religion.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Wednesday, March 25, the department of Religious Studies, along
with the Tibetan Buddhist Society of Charleston, brought Dieter
Borrmann to the Columbia campus to give a talk on the effects of
meditation on neurology and psychology.
Dr. Dieter Borrmann is in the practice of Neurology-PsychologyPsychotherapy in Emmerich, Germany. He is also a student of Tibetan Buddhism under Geshe Topgyal at the Charleston
Tibetan Society, Charleston, SC.
Dr. Borrmann spoke from the dual perspectives of both medicine
(the modern study of mind & body) and traditional Buddhist practice,
a confluence of ideas seen more and more today.
In the 1980s the Dalai Lama first proposed the idea of a neurologic
study of meditation; he asked for research on the brains of meditators to show the connection between the mind and brain. The first MRIs of experienced meditators (Tibetan monks)
showed a significant difference to the brains of meditators and nonmeditators. The remarkable results brought a flurry of further studies.
Medical research in meditation is just a little more than 20 years old and
has been focused particularly on brain imaging procedures. Current areas
and methods of research in meditation include use of MRIs and DTI
(diffusion tensure imaging), as well as EEGs, and Psychometrics, among
others.
These studies have shown that the normal decrease in gray matter with
age is slowed, stabilized and even increased in meditators. Brain changes
in meditators show shrinkage of areas of the brain associated with fear,
anger, hatred, and increased activity in the frontal lobe, the area associated with positive emotions, awareness, and creativity. In addition, the white
matter in the brain, the axions which carry the signals throughout the brain,
show an increase in connectivity and organization with as little as eight weeks of daily meditation. Studies in cognitive science and psychology have found that mindfulness, awareness, and attentiveness are better in meditators.
Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist Master of meditation and philosophy with
the Taklung Kagyu lineage Riwoche Monastery,
held a public lecture Monday, Sept 15 at 7:00 pm
in Gambrell Auditorium. The following day he
gave an in-depth workshop on meditation practice
for a number of students, faculty, and the public
who were interested.
The USC Columbia campus was included in a
tour Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche conducted a
tour of eleven cities in five states. While here, he
spoke in Dr. Goldstein's classes: "Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice" and “Exploring Religion” and gave a public
lecture on "Mindfulness: The Mirror of the Mind." The lecture was well attended, filling Gambrell Auditorium. A reception
following the lecture allowed the audience to visit with the speaker informally. Before coming to Columbia, Rinpoche
spoke a few times at the Charleston Tibetan Society as well as the Charleston Zen Center, and Holy Cow Yoga. After his
visit to Columbia he went on to Beaufort, South Carolina where he gave a final talk before leaving for Emory and Agnes
Scott College in Georgia.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
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(continued)
peared as there have been professors invited to explore it. Lucky academic credentials have helped me from the start. The freedom to find
and to be myself has kept me dedicated over the years in lecture and
seminar rooms.
Beloved Professor Remembered (continued)
students on international travel courses to China, Japan, Turkey, Greece, and elsewhere.
Hal gratefully handed over his teaching duties in the area of Asian religions when we
were able to hire three new faculty in Buddhism, Hindusim, and South Asian Studies
in 2013-14. But he continued teaching for
the Honors College and taking students
abroad for stimulating cross-cultural
learning experiences; his last class trip
was in the spring of 2014.
And in publishing, mostly of articles, reviews (and some poetry), which have been unstrategically widespread in subject matter. I
take some pride in my Lonesome: The Spiritual Meanings of American
Solitude (2009), the only sustained attempt so far, academic or otherwise, to reflect on the feeling-perception unique to North American culture that T.S. Eliot noted, if only in passing, in 1933.
In 2014, Hal had decided to retire finally
from all his university activities. His last
class was scheduled with the Honors College for Fall 2014 and he would be vacating his offices in Preston College at the
end of Spring 2015. But he had a long list
of plans for what he would be doing next.
He said there was a substantial book list
to begin enjoying and many volunteer
organizations and activities, as well as his
continued participation in interfaith organizations and activities – though no longer
in an administrative role. But he passed
away unexpectedly July 10, 2014.
But also freshening sabbatical opportunities overseas:
Durham, England, in 1985-86; a Fulbright year lecturing at the Jagiellonian in Krakow, Poland (the final year of Communist reign); a Fulbright
semester teaching in 1998 at the Islamic University of Gaza (still the
only Western academic ever to teach there); and several six-month
stints pursuing research at Cambridge University in friendly Wolfson
College (1999, 2006, 2012).
I love my wide, tall window in Rutledge 325, above the front
door to the Chapel. I remember from this vantage point viewing Pope
John Paul on the Horseshoe below riding his Pope mobile in 1987, and
the streakers dashing back and forth in 1974, aiming for recognition in
the Guinness Book of Records.
I miss the MA program the Department had for several years
until it was judged un-cost-efficient and yanked. Now, with vigorous,
ambitious new younger colleagues pursuing their various specialties, I
hope it may be returned to us. I give thanks for them as well as the
many accomplished colleagues in other Departments in Arts and Sciences who have befriended me over the years in
both academic settings and at exercise in the P.E. Center.
The Memorial Service for Hal was held
Tuesday, October 7 in Rutledge Chapel
on the Historic Horseshoe of the University of South Carolina where he taught from
With wife Rannie in Japan.
1972 until his passing in. Alumni, faculty
colleagues and friends from the Department of Religious Studies, the South Carolina Honors College, and Preston Residence College came together to remember a beloved teacher, friend, and mentor.
Many stories, memories, and tributes were shared. Former students joined retired
faculty and family to remember the man everyone knew simply as Hal.
The three years in the ‘nineties Becky and I spent as the founding Principals of USC’s first “residential college,”
Preston, were memorable and successful, by most accounts.
He touched lives with his wit, humor, and quiet wisdom. His academic style was neither somber nor pompous but jubilant, exuberant, and celebratory of life, humanity,
and spirit. He will be greatly missed by many.
So what next? Well, back to Cambridge next winter.
Bru, Hal, Don, Kevin, Carl in 1976.
Kevin & Don enjoy cigars.
With class in Turkey.
See these links for the memorials from Preston College and The Daily Gamecock
Kevin muses with the spirit of Jan Karski in Warsaw
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
With class in India.
With class in China.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
With class in Turkey.
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10
By Stephanie Mitchem
My area of research is African American religious thought. African American religions do
not make sense without understanding what is
occurring on the African continent and in the
African Diaspora.
While in Morocco last summer (2014), I was
able to tour the King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. With pride, Moroccans point to the
mosque as one of the great accomplishments
of their country. The mosque overlooks the
Atlantic Ocean and uses artistry with tile and
wood to celebrate Moroccan heritage and Muslim faith. Locally sourced materials were used
where possible.
The mosque’s high ceilings, a partially retractable roof, marble flooring, and decorative grates
are practical, providing cooling breezes for
worshippers with the sound of the ocean as a background. But there is a greater
aim than the comfort of those who worship, and that is to call to mind wind, water and sky made by the Creator.
The mosque took ten years to build, beginning in 1983. When asked how much
the mosque cost, the tour guide stated that it has been estimated at 700M “but
who really knows?” With the time and services and supplies that were donated
by Moroccans as well as other Muslim nations, it could well be more. And the
value of the mosque to the citizenry is not tied to its economic cost alone. Instead, the mosque represents the gifts of a country in relation to their faith.
Morocco was fascinating, with a monarchy that is the oldest on the African continent, working to adapt to 21st century demands. This mosque stands as a testament to people’s hopes for the future as well as their past.
Fourth annual Religious Studies lectureship co-sponsored by the Walker Institute, Islamic
World Studies, and the Peace and Integration Council of North America.
Reza Shah-Kazemi, Research Fellow with the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London as well
as Managing Editor of the Encyclopaedia Islamica, was the invited speaker
this year.
His main public lecture Monday evening, April 6 was titled: “From Tolerance
to Reverence: Spirituality and Universality in Islam.” Beginning with such diverse writers as Bernard Lewis, John Locke, and Ali Hujwiri, he brought out
the historical basis of tolerance in Islam rooted squarely, as Lewis notes, in
Islamic law itself.
Pointing out that tolerance is commonly conceived as a “reluctant acceptance, a regrettable necessity of putting up with the Other,” Shah-Kazemi
noted that with spiritual perspectives we can move beyond mere tolerance
based on the idea of an ethical norm to a genuinely transforming spiritual
quality of universality. The spirit and spirituality of Islam are the empowering
factors for the tolerance, inclusivism, and respect for diversity that is found at
the heart of the Qur’an itself. Sufism, he said, though not the whole of Islamic
spirituality is where the spiritual values of the Islamic tradition are most clearly expressed and most deeply fathomed.
That spirit of Islam, Shah-Kazemi explained, is characterized
by the universal message of the Qur’an along with the moral
and spiritual radiance of the soul of the Prophet. The morality
and ethics of the message of the Qur’an are impossible without
the virtue of spiritual principles being realized at the same time.
Kindness and charity, in even the smallest things, are prerequisites for fulfilment of morality and ethics. Upholding outward
forms of religion and law without these virtues is undermining
the religion and the law.
Ibn Arabi, one of the great philosophers of Islam, says that the
heart suffused by the spirit of Islam, the religion of Love, embraces all religious forms. In his Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, one of
the great
classics
of Sufism, Ibn Arabi famously wrote, “I follow the religion of Love/
Whatever way Love’s camels take/ Love is my religion and Love is
my faith.”
Ablutions Area
Retractable ceiling
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Go to the Qur’an, Shah-Kazemi said, with the correct perspective
of love, and all religions become present. The more deeply you go
into the specificity of Islam, the more unavoidable becomes universality. For those who know the Qur’an as the guide for our attitude
toward the religious Other, the answer to the basic question, based
on the Qur’an, opens up unavoidably into tolerance and universality. Exclusivity and intolerance become clearly seen as deviations
from the spirit of the Qur’anic discourse.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
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In January the department co-sponsored two interfaith panel discussions on the USC campus: the first
on “How the Earth Speaks to Us” and the second on
“Compassion in Our Many Faiths.”
“How the Earth Speaks to Us,” co-sponsored by Religious Studies along with McKissick Museum and Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, was held on January 22nd in the second floor gallery of McKissick Museum in conjunction with an exhibit of material culture
from Native American artists of the Southeast. Representatives from five faith traditions shared insights on
the sacredness of the earth and the use of sacred
objects in their respective traditions.
Holli Emore represented the Pagan traditions, and Dr. Amarjit Singh discussed the Sikh religion. Arunima Sinha, on the
Board of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Columbia, represented Hinduism. Carl Evans, former Professor and
Chair with the Department of Religious Studies, served as moderator.
A second panel discussion was held the following week, January 29, in the Gressett Room in Harper College on the
Horseshoe. The faiths represented in this panel were: the Baha’i faith with Ethel Crawford; Buddhism with Dr. Toma
Kawaguchi; Christianity with Karen “Zarah” Starks; Islam with Chaudhry Sadiq; and Unitarian Universalism with John
Halfacre. The topic of this discussion was “Compassion in Our Many Faiths” and was co-sponsored by the Department
of Religious Studies, Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, and the Peace and Integration Council of North America.
The discussion was built around the Charter of Compassion which the panelists had read in advance. Carl Evans quoted from that document to begin the discussion: “The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and
spiritual traditions….” and then asked each of the panelists to speak briefly on three questions dealing with the ideal of
compassion, the practice of compassion, and the restoring of compassion in the context of each of the traditions represented.
You can read a fuller summary of these two events on our website at: http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/relg/interfaith-panel-discussions
Religious
Studies offices are located in
Rutledge
College, the
oldest building on the USC campus.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
is published for colleagues,
alumni, and friends by the Department of Religious Studies,
College of Arts and Sciences,
University of South Carolina,
Columbia, SC 29208.
Located in Close-Hipp suite 381
for the duration of the 2015-16
academic year.
Web site:
www.cas.sc.edu/relg
James Cutsinger, Chairman
Kevin Lewis, Editor
Mardi McCabe, Issue Editor
Kevin Lewis, professor of the creative interface
between religion and culture, is finally retiring
from the department May 2015. He inaugurated
the newsletter Spring 1987. In those early years he
would submit a folder with typewritten copy and
an envelope of photos to the USC Printing Office
where they would typeset the copy and layout the
newsletter. It was then sent out to a mailing list of
colleagues and supporters of the department
around the country and around the world. Graduate
students were given the task of putting the labels on
a few hundred newsletters, and sorting them in zipcode order (for bulk mail
rates). With the advent of computers, Kevin still typed up the copy and selected the photos, but then he submitted them on a floppy disc to the printing office. In 2005, although the newsletter was still being printed and mailed out,
we began posting it on the website, allowing for the use of full color photos.
After the economic downturn in 2008, we went to an entirely digital format,
sent in email attachment and posted to the website. Through all these changes,
Kevin’s wonderfully imaginative spirit has shaped and driven the contours of
this newsletter. His voice and sure touch will be sorely missed.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Another site I visited this summer (2015) was the First
African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA. This church is
considered the first wholly owned and operated black
church in the U.S. The core group of the community began in 1773, officially organized in 1788, and established
1859.
But such a claim of primacy competes with that of Silver
Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina or First African
Baptist in Virginia. What is important is that each of these
churches was established under the burdens of enslavement. That the churches still stand provides a glimpse
into the tenacious grit of the communities.
First African Baptist Church has an active congregation
who celebrates their history while working on behalf of
the contemporary
community.
The church building
itself embraces history: the stained
glass windows have the founders’
images.
Some of the pews were hand crafted
by enslaved people. The church was
also an Underground Railroad station: floor holes brought air into tunnels where escapees were hiding.
Whether in Casablanca or Savannah, African peoples’ religious lives
reflect cultures and values and
meaning.
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
12
Spring 2014 Awards and Outstanding Achievements
Emily Lawton Theus received the Rising Senior Award for academic excellence, presented each year to a religious
studies major selected by the faculty in recognition for outstanding academic achievement both in overall excellence
and in particular as a religious studies major.
Kitra Liora Monnier was given the Elizabeth Dodge Clark book
award, presented each year to a graduating senior who has majored in
religious studies and met the four criteria for this award: 1) Work of
distinction in courses offered by the department; 2) Distinction in the
conception and execution of a senior thesis; 3) Evidence of commitment to humanitarian and religious values transcending parochial
boundaries; 4) Demonstrated interest in a career of service.
Beloved Professor
Remembered
Seven students were awarded Mungo Pre-seminary Scholarships:
Amy Bassett, Hampton Harmon, James Brown, Shelby Spears,
David Graves, Renique Richberg, and Cody Miller.
The following Religious Studies majors graduated spring 2014 with
honors:
Lauren N. Marsh : Summa Cum Laude / South Carolina Honors
College BA With Honors / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Kitra L. Monnier : Magna Cum Laude/ South Carolina Honors
College BA With Honors / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Nicholas D. Perez: Cum Laude / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Joseph B. Studemeyer: Magna Cum Laude/ South Carolina Honors College BA With Honors / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Matthew A. Thomas: Magna Cum Laude
Morgan V. Ross: Cum Laude
Professor Daniel Stuart (center) presented the
awards to Emily Theus (left) and Kitra Monnier
(right) at spring 2014 Awards Day ceremonies.
Spring 2015 Awards and Outstanding Achievements
Dr. Elon Goldstein presented the Elizabeth Dodge Clark book prize to Emily Theus on awards day in April 2015. The
Rising Senior Award, given by the College of Arts and Sciences, was discontinued. Four students received the Michael J. Mungo Pre-seminary Scholarship award in spring of 2015, to be applied toward their tuition in the upcoming
academic year: Elaine Sneider, Babs Marshall, Hampton Harmon, and James T. Brown .
The following Religious Studies majors graduated with honors summer and fall 2014 and spring 2015:
James B. Sanford: Magna Cum Laude / South Carolina Honors College BA With Honors
Amy C. Bassett: Cum Laude
Robert B. Bass: Magna Cum Laude / Religious Studies BA “With Distinction”
Tyler P. Johnson: Summa Cum Laude
Rachel A. Strang : Magna Cum Laude
Emily L. Theus : Summa Cum Laude / South Carolina Honors College BA With Honors
Amy Bassett and Tyler Johnson each received Magellan Scholar Awards given to select students each year to help
fund a research project. This is a competitive award with the submission of a research, scholarship, or creative project proposal developed in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Selection is based on the project’s educational and
intellectual merit, the potential impact of the project, and the student’s previous academic success.
Amy, with her mentor, Dr. Katja Vehlow, completed a research project in Germany on “The Relief Society in Freiberg,
Germany.” Tyler’s research was done with Dr. Daniel Stuart and focused on “Critical Reflections on Contemporary
Discussions of Ethics in the ‘Zhuangzi’.”
Harold Wendell French was always simply
known to everyone as Hal. And around the University of South
Carolina campus, you usually
didn’t even need
to add his last
name for people
to know just exactly whom you
meant. He joined
the Department
of Religious
Studies to cover
the area of Asian
religions and
later served as
Chair of the department until he
retired in 1995.
Although retired,
he continued to
teach in both the
graduate and
undergraduate
programs, direct theses for both graduate and
undergraduate students, and participate in all the
activities and events of the department. He
chaired the committee for the Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin Lectures in Moral, Ethical, and Religious Studies until at age 80 he requested the
duties be passed on to someone else.
He continued to teach the department’s courses in
Asian studies as well as the Psychology of Religion; Gandhi, King and non-violence; Herman
Hesse; and any number of popular courses over
the years. Until the end he could fill classes of 60
to 70. Teaching for both Religious Studies and the
South Carolina Honors College, he took groups of
Continued pg. 9
Since the last newsletter was published in the spring of 2014, we
have graduated another class of outstanding students, added new
courses to the curriculum, and brought in a number of guest
speakers. Hal French passed away in July 2014, and Kevin Lewis
retired at the end of this spring semester 2015. James Cutsinger
has succeeded Stephanie Mitchem as the Chairman of the department. Stephanie was more than happy to pass the baton. And to
round out this academic year, they are moving us out of Rutledge
for 2015-16 to do much needed repairs to this oldest building on
the university campus.
By Kevin Lewis
Early memories have faded. Colleagues have dropped away. All
three who welcomed me in my first year, 1973, Lauren Brubaker,
Don Jones, and Hal French, are deceased. Bru had founded the
Department in 1949, and the beauty of my job description from
the get-go as absolutely interdisciplinary I owe especially to him. I
was invited to make up from scratch the six courses I wished to
teach. He had been trained by Paul Tillich during his Union Seminary days, the Tillich whose lectures enthralled me as an undergrad in college.
Religion and Culture. Across the country as many functional interpretations of what this “specialty” can mean have apContinued pg. 4
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015
Department of Religious Studies Newsletter Spring 2015