Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria
Each year the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society collaborates with colleagues at the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets to offer programming of interest to both scholars and members of the local community. This year our day-long workshop will involve scholars and professionals in a moderated public conversation about crises that beset the natural and built environments.
Session I: The Natural Environment
Highlighting our panel on the natural environment is Catherine Keller, George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology at Drew University in New Jersey. Catherine is a scholar and public intellectual renowned for her ability to think critically about religion, culture, and the relationship between the two. Her latest book, Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy and Other Last Chances, asks deep questions of the Christian tradition and our imperiled contemporary world. Catherine will discuss the most current thinking about how Christians do, can, and must connect their faith lives with the plight of our global climate.
Joining Catherine in conversation will be Mari Joerstad, Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Vancouver School of Theology. Mari has also dedicated much of her academic career to reflecting on the social implications of the biblical tradition. Her research focuses on ecology, land, migration and belonging in the Hebrew Bible. She is author of The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, Nonhumans, and the Living Landscape.
Catherine and Mari will conclude the first session by inviting the audience to engage with them in conversation on the topic.
Session II: The Built Environment
In our second session, we turn our attention to challenges faced by many cities and regions: how to reimagine the environments we build in a manner that makes our communities more affordable, beautiful, sustainable, and conducive to good mental and spiritual health. How do we who think about urban spaces seek to connect beauty, the good life, and the importance of uplifting spaces in our shared lives? The event will be moderated by CBC radio host Gregor Craigie, author of the recent (and award-winning) Our Crumbling Foundation: How We Solve Canada’s Housing Crisis. Guests include: Franc D’Ambrosio, principal at Dau Studio in Victoria, British Columbia, and senior architect for some of Victoria’s most iconic and appreciated architecture; Kaeley Wiseman, principal at Wiser Projects and founder of Wiser Development Non-Profit Society, a leading light in the not-for-profit housing sector; Robin Mazumder, an environmental neuroscientist and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Future Cities Institute at the University of Waterloo; and Brendon Neilson, Executive Director of the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets, and lead on the Christ Church Cathedral Precinct ‘Building for the Future’ initiative.
This diverse panel of scholars, activists, authors, architects and executives all have a vested interest in creating flourishing, beautiful and humane urban environments. They will come together to discuss big ideas, but also the application of these big ideas to local issues. Some of the questions that have been animating our discussions:
- What role do capital-R religious communities play in shaping our shared urban spaces (e.g., the big plans underway for the re-imagination of Christ Church Cathedral’s property/ies)?
- How do the public spaces we build/share (even the religious institutions we all inherit) contribute to or work against experiences of solidarity, trauma, loneliness, repose, repair, and reconciliation?
- What can we learn—vis-à-vis community-building, calming spaces, a sense of public safety, memorialization, etc.—from other cities?
- What do our current understandings of human communities, or brain structure/function, have to teach us about how we can shape our buildings and public spaces in a life-affirming manner?
- What role might public art and bold architecture play in the ways we build/use/imagine our religious as well as secular spaces?
In addition to presentations and discussion among the panelists, there will be a moderated audience question and answer period, as well as time for the panelists from each of the two sessions to interact with one another and seek connections.
This one-day event will allow audience members not just to witness leading scholars and activists discussing issues of great importance to the planet as well our cities, but also to engage our guests and one another, to share a meal, and to become more effective members of civil society. We look forward to hosting this conversation and invite you to hold the date to join us. Register for the workshop using the registration button above.