PROGRAMS | GAEDE INSTITUTE Archive: Spring 2017
Recycling Nature's Intelligent Design
James Rogers, Apeel Sciences
Wednesday, January 18
3:30pm | Founders Dining Room
Sustainability Speaker Series
James Rogers is the founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences, a Santa Barbara-based business that helps provide new organic technology solutions for sustainable agriculture. He holds a Ph.D. in materials from UCSB and a BS from Carnegie Mellon University.
Reel Talk: “The Visitor”
Thursday, January 19
7pm | Adams 216
What is sometimes called "political correctness" means, essentially, an imperative to take seriously the perspectives of people who are unlike ourselves. Finding the right balance is hard: too little perspective-taking leads to chauvinism; too much to paralysis. In its depiction of a friendship between a middle-aged college professor and a young Syrian musician, "The Visitor" movingly portrays the awkwardness and necessity of this kind of cross-cultural connection. Along the way, it casts light on US immigration and deportation systems that produce division and fear.
Junkyard Wisdom: Resisting the Whisper of Wealth in a World of Broken Parts
Roy Goble, PathLight International
Thursday, January 26
3:30pm | Winter Hall 212
Hosted by the Global Studies Fellows Program and the Goble Institute
Roy Goble is president of Pathlight International, an organization that serves at-risk children in Belize by providing them quality secondary education. He serves on several boards, including that of his alma mater, Westmont College, and is the owner and president of Goble Properties, a real-estate investment company based in Oakland.
The Body of a Woman as a Battlefield in the Bosnian Wars
Staged reading of a play by Matej Visniec, directed by John Blondell
Friday, January 27
7pm | Porter Theatre
Boundary Crossings: New International Plays About the Immigrant Experience
Two women search for connection, healing, and redemption following the atrocities of the Bosnian Wars. An important play from Romania, in the department’s Boundary Crossings Staged Reading Series. Not recommended for children under 17.
Why Climate Change Matters to Us in California
Katharine Hayhoe, Texas Tech University
Monday, February 6
3:30pm | Winter Hall 210
Pascal Society / Net VUE Lecture
Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University. She is also the founder and CEO of ATMOS Research, which consults with industry, non-profit, and government clients about the effects of climate change. Dr. Hayhoe speaks and writes on climate science, communication, and faith; her most recent book is A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions.
A Reading by Award-Winning Young Adult Novelist Sara Zarr
Thursday, February 16
7:30pm | Hieronymus Lounge
Westmont Reading Series
Sara Zarr is an American fiction writer whose novels treat realistically the challenges and questions of adolescence. Her first novel, Story of a Girl, was a 2007 National Book Award finalist. A native of San Francisco, she now lives in Salt Lake City.
Organic Growing Practices and California Coffee
Lindsey Mesta , Good Land Organics
Thursday, February 23
3:30pm | Founders Dining Room
Sustainability Speaker Series
Lindsey Mesta is the operations manager of Good Land Organics, a 42-acre farm in Goleta that specializes in exotic sub-tropical crops. In addition to growing cherimoyas, dragon fruit, passion fruit, and caviar limes, Good Land Organics has used pioneering cultivation techniques to become the first successful commercial coffee farm in the continental United States.
Reel Talk: “Nowhere to Run”
with screenwriter Carmen McCain and Amanda Sparkman
Thursday, February 23
7pm | Adams 216
Nigeria faces a looming climate and environmental crisis that it can no longer afford to ignore. "Nowhere to Run"explores the creeping effects of climate change and unchecked environmental degradation that pose major socio-economic, political, and sustainable development challenges to communities across Nigeria. The narration for this award-winning documentary was written by Westmont professor of English Carmen McCain, who joins us for the screening.
Science and Song on Matters of the Heart
with singer-songwriter David Wilcox and Westmont Biology faculty Jeff Schloss
Friday, February 24
7pm | Hieronymus Lounge
Christian singer-songwriter David Wilcox and biologist Jeff Schloss share a conversation--exchanging recent, fascinating scientific discoveries and musical/theological reflections on love, purpose, romance, forgiveness, suffering, and faith. Wilcox is an internationally acclaimed, philosophically thoughtful folk artist and Schloss directs Westmont’s Center for Faith, Ethics & Life Sciences and serves as Senior Scholar, BioLogos Foundation.
Businesswomen in Ministry? Gender and Church Organization, 1880-1930
Aaron Sizer, Westmont College
Monday, February 27
7pm | Hieronymus Lounge
Gender Studies Lecture
Long before many churches would ordain them as pastors, American Protestant women were deeply engaged in the business of ministry through raising and distributing money. Denominations wholeheartedly embraced corporate culture in the early twentieth century; this move sometimes led to curtailment of women's leadership, but it also gave women who were accustomed to dealing with denominational finances a pathway to expanded religious roles. Aaron Sizer holds a Ph.D. in American religious history from Princeton Seminary and is assistant director of Westmont's Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts.
Medical Missions: A History of Healing or Domination?
Chandra Mallampalli , Westmont College
Thursday, March 2
8pm | Adams 216
Science and Religion Club Lecture
In the hands of Christian missionaries, how did modern medicine benefit African or Asian societies? In what ways did it serve the purposes of colonialism? Using examples from history, Westmont professor of history Chandra Mallampalli will address matters of cultural sensitivity, humility, and reciprocity when considering the redemptive value of medical missions.
Becoming the Body of Christ, or Not
Lisa DeBoer, Westmont College
Ben Patterson and Grey Brothers, responding
Monday, March 6
7pm | Hieronymus Lounge
Paul C. Wilt Phi Kappa Phi Lecture
Christians have commonly looked to biblical and theological sources to guide their worship practices. But ecclesiology—an appreciation of what it means to be the church—can also shape worship. Drawing on a ten-year study of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox practices, Westmont professor of art history Lisa DeBoer argues that this broader view gives critical insight into the universal and corporate dimensions of Christian worship. Dr. DeBoer holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Chumash Traditions: Storytelling and a Maritime Legacy
Alan Salazar, Chumash historian and storyteller
Tuesday, March 7
3:30pm | Founders Dining Room
Sustainability Speaker Series
Alan "Spirit Hawk" Salazar, a Native American storyteller and educator, shares his perspective on local Santa Barbara tribes' histories of interaction with their natural environment. Salazar’s ancestry can be traced to the Chumash and Tataviam village of Ta’apu, now known as Simi Valley. He is a founding member of the Kern County Native American Heritage Preservation Council and the Chumash Maritime Association. He serves on the California Advisory Council for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and has advised the Ventura County Indian Education Consortium for more than 18 years.
Reel Talk: “Children of Syria”
with Alister Chapman, Heather Keaney, and Jim Wright
Thursday, March 9
7pm | Adams 216
The Syrian war and resulting refugee crisis have turned upside down the lives of countless thousands of previously stable, healthy families. This PBS Frontline documentary follows one such family: parents Abu Ali and Hala, who were engineers before the war, and their four children, who find ways to be ordinary kids amidst the rubble of Aleppo. This remarkably intimate family portrait humanizes the narrative of displacement playing out today throughout the Middle East and Europe.
Quantum Physics and Christianity
Arnold Sikkema, Trinity Western University
Friday, March 10
3:30pm | Winter 210
Science and Faith Club Lecture
About 100 years ago, physics left behind a Newtonian mechanical-universe model to investigate a cosmos of uncertainty, probability, indeterminism, subjectivity, and holism. This talk will explore resonances with and challenges to Christian theological and philosophical perspectives presented by quantum physics, closing with thoughts on human, divine, and biological agency. Arnold Sikkema is a professor of physics at Trinity Western University and president of the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation.His main research interests are in science and Christian faith, particularly exploring biophysics from a Reformational philosophical perspective.
A Conversation on Leadership
Katherine Alsdorf, Theology of Work Project
Monday, March 20
3:30pm | Hieronymus Lounge
NetVUE Lecture
Katherine Leary Alsdorf is the founder and Director Emeritus of Redeemer Church’s Center for Faith and Work in New York City. Prior to her work there, she served as the CEO of One Touch Systems and Pensare, two Silicon Valley technology companies, and has spent over twenty years working in the technology industry. Along with Tim Keller, she is the co-author of Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work. Rachel Winslow, Assistant Professor of History and the Director of Westmont’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship, will lead a conversation with Ms. Alsdorf about her career in business, the nature of leadership and how our work fits into a wider vision of God’s call for our lives.
Having Compassion on the Multitudes: Global Health as Spiritual Practice
David Addiss, University of Notre Dame
Monday, March 20
7:00pm | Winter 210
Kinesiology Department and Global Studies Fellows Lecture
David Addiss iis a public health physician whose work has focused on the prevention and treatment of neglected tropical diseases – causes of immense suffering and disability. After working in migrant health as a general medical practitioner, David studied public health at The Johns Hopkins University and worked as a medical epidemiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1985 to 2006. He co-founded the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Control and Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis in the Americas. From 2006 to 2010, David directed the Fetzer Institute’s research program in science and spirituality. He is currently Science Advisor to Children Without Worms, a program of the Task Force for Global Health in Decatur, Georgia. His interests include prevention of neglected tropical diseases and the role of compassion in global health.
Cheri Larsen Hoeckley, Westmont College
Tuesday, March 21
7pm | Hieronymus Lounge
Gender Studies Lecture
Cheri Larsen Hoeckley is a professor of English at Westmont College, where she has taught since 1997. Specializing in Victorian studies and gender studies, her current projects concern the intersection of faith, gender, and sexuality. A graduate of UC Berkeley and UT Austin, she is the editor of Shakespeare's Heroines (Broadview, 2005) and the author, most recently, of "The Dynamics of Forgiveness and Poetics in Adelaide Procter's 'Homeless'" (Literature Compass 11.2, 2014).
The Conversation on the Liberal Arts: Liberal Arts for a Fragile Planet
Featuring public plenary lectures by Andrew Bocarsly (Princeton University, Chemistry), Steven Bouma-Prediger (Hope College, Religion), Janet Redman (Oil Change International), and Ling Zhang (Boston College, History)
Thursday, March 23 through Saturday, March 25
No Cheating Allowed!
Scott Shalkowski, University of Leeds
Wednesday, April 5
3:30pm | Hieronymus Lounge
Philosophy Department Lecture
Scott Shalkowski is Senior Lecturer in philosophy at the University of Leeds. His research interests mostly concern metaphysics with special attention to modality and metaphysical method and the epistemology of religious belief. In recent years, he has participated in the Arche Modality research network at The University of St. Andrews and has lectured at the Universities of Arizona, Notre Dame, Nantes, Nancy, and various UK universities.
David Garrison, Global Gates
Thursday, April 6
3:30pm | Winter 210
World Christianity and Adams Mission Fund Lecture
David Garrison holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of Chicago. He is a veteran of more than 30 years as a missionary pioneer. His writings include The Nonresidential Missionary (1990), Church Planting Movements (2004), and A Wind in the House of Islam (2014). Garrison currently serves as Global Gates’ executive director, and as Church Planting Consultant in the Professional Services Group of MissioNexus, the largest network of evangelical missions in the world. David is the husband of Sonia and father of four grown children.
Permaculture Design: Rebuilding a Sustainable Relationship with the Land
Michael Gonella, Santa Barbara City College
Tuesday, April 11
3:30pm | Founders Dining Room
Sustainability Speaker Series
Michael Gonella is the chair of the Environmental Horticulture department at Santa Barbara City College. He teaches a wide range of horticulture classes and has a background in native plant propagation, ecological restoration and Native American Ethnobotany.
Reel Talk: "Selma"
with Rachel Winslow and Tom Knecht
Wednesday, April 19
7pm | Adams 216
Join Westmont faculty and staff for screening and discussion of Ava DuVernay's pathbreaking drama about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the road to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.