The Essence and Transformative Power of
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Humanism
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A Four-Part Worship Series
Sundays at 11:00AM
Sunday, January 22nd – Sunita Viswanath
Sunita Viswanath has worked for over two decades for
women’s and human rights organizations. She is co-founder
and active board member of the international women’s
human rights organization, Women for Afghan Women.
Sunita was raised in an Andhra Hindu family, and always
felt that it was her Hindu values and beliefs that motivated
her insistence on justice and human rights. However, she
did not find that there was a Hindu voice or presence in the movements for justice of
which she was a part. Sunita co-founded Sadhana to bring together these two parts of
her journey: her activism for human rights and her identity as a Hindu. Sunita lives in
Brooklyn, NY with her husband Stephan Shaw and their three sons, Ama, Akash and
Satya.
Sunday, March 19th – John Ankele
John Ankele holds an M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary
(’67) and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church. He is a student
in the Zen tradition, a teacher of Shambhala Buddhism and has been
involved for many years in interfaith dialogue. As a documentary
filmmaker, his early subjects included prophet-healers in
marginalized communities in Africa, the underground church in
China, and the impact of women’s empowerment on health care in
India. Twenty-five years ago, John teamed up with co-producing
colleague Anne Macksoud to form Old Dog Documentaries
(www.olddogdocumentaries.org) with a mission to create films that inspire dialogue and
action on social, economic and environmental justice. Their most recent film The
Wisdom To Survive – Climate Change, Capitalism and Community has been seen
widely in the U.S. and Canada. And John has just finished a short film, One Body One
Heart, about how Bob Gunn, a psychotherapist, Jungian scholar, Zen priest and
Christian minister is dealing with pancreatic cancer.
Sunday, April 2nd, Shaykh Ibrahim Abdul-Malik
Shaykh Abdul-Malik Ibrahim Ed.D., Ph.D. is El-Hajj Malik
El-Shabazz Professor of American Muslim History and
Culture. He was born in New York City. He earned his first
doctorate degree in Science and Education at Harvard University
in 1971, and his second in Islamic Studies from the Graduate
Theological Foundation in 2007. He is a Certified Master
Practitioner of both Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and
Ericksonian Therapeutic Hypnosis, a qualified nutritionist, and a
member of the World Health Community of NLP
Practitioners. During his 25-year career with the New York City School system, Dr.
Abdul-Malik was also Adjunct Professor at City University of New York for ten years. He
was director of Bank Street College outreach program. Following that, as UNESCO
Science Advisor, he set up and headed the first junior college in the Islamic Republic of
Maldives, South Asia. He presently teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Dr.
Abdul-Malik was a co-founder of the Imams Council of New York, and Associate
Director of the UN Summer Internship Program, Geneva, Switzerland, sponsored by the
Malik Shabazz Human Rights Institute. Immediately following September 11, 2001, he
served for several months as a Volunteer Disaster Chaplain with The American Red
Cross, at and near ground zero, and as a Trauma Counselor, with selected community
organizations. Dr. Abdul-Malik is regularly invited to lead interfaith activities,
particularly those seeking to improve relations among Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Sunday, May 28th – Kevin Jagoe
Kevin W. Jagoe holds a degree in anthropology and criminal
justice as well as a Master in Nonprofit Management from Hamline
University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is a graduate of the
Humanist Institute with a Certificate of Humanist Studies and
Leadership, and is currently studying for his Master of Divinity at
Meadville Lombard Theological School. Kevin is a Candidate for
the Unitarian Universalist Ministry and serves on the board of the
Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association. He is a contributor to
the anthology Humanist Voices in Unitarian Universalism.