Photo Elizabeth Myers

Interfaith Lectures

It is the designed intention of the Department of Religion that the 2 p.m. lectures focus on issues that impact the lived experience of everyday life from theological, ethical, moral, humanitarian, philosophical and religious perspectives. It is also policy that the lecture platform continue with its longstanding tradition of being interfaith both in focus and in selection of speakers. Because of the Institution’s strong commitment to Chautauqua’s Abrahamic Program, this focus manifests most frequently in representation from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, with occasional voices from the Eastern Religions to expand the reach. While honoring its Christian roots, Chautauqua offers to the world a much needed example of what it means to live with and to respond to contemporary religious pluralism, and the Department of Religion through its programs demonstrates accordingly the perspective that inclusivity is the mark of faithful religious life and teaching.

**Watch some of our previous lectures at Fora.tv!**

Theme: Eternal Life: A New Vision
Week One - June 28-July 2

Bishop John Shelby Spong will lead the 2:00 pm audiences through a week-long conversation based on his newest book: Eternal Life: A New Vision— Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell. This week having been inspired by the Eileen and Warren Martin Lectureship Fund for Emerging Studies in Bible and Theology, Jack Spong in his unique style will make accessible to the ordinary layperson emerging understandings within contemporary theology, as well as offer new ways in which to engage with traditional concepts.

MON 28 John Shelby Spong

TUE 29 John Shelby Spong

WED 30 John Shelby Spong

THU 1 John Shelby Spong

FRI 2 John Shelby Spong

June 28 - July 2
Bishop John Shelby Spong
former bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Newark

John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. Acclaimed as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson, he is considered the champion of an inclusive faith, both inside and outside the Christian church. In one of his recent books, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Discover the God of Love (2005), Bishop Spong sought to introduce readers to a new way to engage the holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition. A committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it, Bishop Spong says that he is a believer who knows and loves the Bible deeply, but who recognizes that parts of it have been used to undergird prejudices and to mask violence.

A visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches worldwide, Bishop Spong delivers more than 200 public lectures each year to standing-room-only crowds. He was previously a 2:00 pm Lecturer of the Week at Chautauqua in 2000. His bestselling books include Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, A New Christianity for a New World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand. His extensive media appearances include a profile segment on 60 Minutes as well as appearances on Good Morning America, Fox News Live, Politically Incorrect, Larry King Live, The O'Reilly Factor, William F. Buckley's Firing Line, and Extra. His newest book is Eternal Life: A New Vision—Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell.

Theme: The Ethics of Leadership
Week Two - July 5-9

Staying on topic, this week the Department of Religion will examine “The Ethics of Leadership” from the perspective of well known civic and religious leaders. These leaders will share angles of vision that define ethical leadership as a social responsibility that safeguards the foundations for the flourishing of civil society.

MON 5 Thomas Beech

TUE 6 Daisy Khan

WED 7 Otis Moss III

THU 8

FRI 9 Irwin Kula

July 5
Thomas F. Beech
president and CEO, Fetzer Institute

Thomas F. Beech is President and CEO of the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Having served as Associate Director and then Executive Director of The Minneapolis Foundation from 1974 to 1984, from 1984 to 2002 he was Executive Vice President and CEO of The Burnett Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Beech’s work in philanthropy has emphasized the central importance of building solid working relationships based on trust, mutual respect, and integrity. He has written and consulted extensively on non-profit governance, and organizational and personal resilience, and he has served on the boards of directors of the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector; the Conference of Southwest Foundations; The Institute for Community Peace; and Funders Concerned About AIDS.

A private operating foundation based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Fetzer Institute engages with people and organizations around the world to help bring the power of love, forgiveness, and compassion to the center of individual and community life. Founded by broadcast pioneer John E. Fetzer, the Institute carries out its mission in a number of ways: by supporting scientific research to understand how to increase the human capacity for love and forgiveness; by convening conversations that help leaders in many fields explore the practical application of love and compassion in their work; and by sharing compelling stories of love and forgiveness at work in the world. While the Fetzer Institute is not a religious organization, it honors and learns from a variety of spiritual traditions. (www.fetzer.org)

Mr. Beech received his undergraduate education at Carleton College and graduate education at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, where he was a member of the International Fellows Program. He has written and lectured extensively on the subject of “Leadership for Our Times.”

July 6
Daisy Khan
executive director, American Society for Muslim Advancement

Daisy Khan is Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to developing an American Muslim identity and to building bridges between the Muslim community and general public through dialogues in faith, identity, culture, and the arts. Ms. Khan mentors young Muslims on challenges of assimilation, gender, religion and modernity, and intergenerational differences. In the aftermath of 9/11, she created interfaith programs to emphasize commonalities among the Abrahamic faith traditions, such as a groundbreaking theater presentation, Same Difference, and the interfaith Cordoba Bread Fest.

To prioritize the improvement of Muslim-West relations and the advancement of Muslim women globally, Ms. Khan has launched two cutting edge intra-faith programs to start movements of change agents among the two disempowered majorities of the Muslim world: youth and women. The MLT: Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow and WISE: Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality programs were launched on an international scale in Doha (MLT) and in Malaysia (WISE). Both programs seek to convene, empower, and build networks in their target groups, and to facilitate the emergence of a leadership that speaks with a credible, humane, and equitable voice in the global Muslim community.

Ms. Khan frequently lectures and debates in the United States and internationally, having debated Christopher Hitchens on National Public Radio. After the Danish cartoon crisis, she moderated a discussion in Denmark between young Muslims and Flemming Rose, the original publisher of the controversial cartoons. In May 2007 she became the first Muslim woman to speak at Thanksgiving Square in Dallas, Texas on the National Day of Prayer. Ms. Khan frequently comments on important issues in the media, and has appeared on ABC, PBS, BBC World, CNN, Fox News, National Geographic, Al Jazeerah, and the Hallmark Channel. She has also been quoted in numerous print publications, such as Time Magazine, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Saudi Gazette, The National and Khaleej Times. In July 2007 Ms. Khan appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine along with 40 members of ASMA. In the same issue of the magazine, she also co-wrote an article on the symmetry between core Islamic values and the constitution of the United States.

Daisy Khan is the recipient of many awards, including the Interfaith Center's Award for Promoting Peace and Interfaith Understanding, the Auburn Seminary's Lives of Commitment Award, Hunt Alternatives Prime Movers Award, and Women's E-News 21st Century Leaders for the 21st century. Born in Kashmir, India, she spent the first 25 years of her career as an interior architect at various Fortune 500 companies. In 2005 she decided to dedicate herself fully to elevating the discourse on Islam, and to improving the lives of Muslims and non-Muslims globally through ASMA and its sister organization, the Cordoba Initiative.

July 7
Rev. Otis Moss III
senior pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago

Rev. Otis Moss III serves as Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Prior to joining the pastoral staff at Trinity United Church of Christ, Rev. Moss served as pastor of the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia, whose membership grew from 125 to over 2100 members under his leadership.

Rev. Moss received his B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Morehouse College, and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Yale with a concentration in Ethics and Theology. He has been Adjunct Professor of Voorhees College, and has served as a guest lecturer for the Interdenominational Theological Center, Emory University, Presbyterian College, Paine College, Dillard University, Howard University, Yale, Harvard University, and Morehouse College. He has preached at Chautauqua on numerous occasions, and has also shared Chautauqua’s pulpit with his father, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr.

Engaging in continuing ministry to youth and young adults, Rev. Moss also pursues a love for African-American American homiletics and church history. He has done extensive research in the areas of African-American culture, theology, and youth development. He is the author of Redemption in a Red Light District, and his essays, articles, and poetry have appeared in Sojourners Magazine, The Urban-Spectrum, and The African American Pulpit Journal, which, along with BeliefNet, named Reverend Moss as one of the "20 to Watch" ministers who will shape the future of the African American Church. His passion for youth and intergenerational ministry has led him to create the Issachar Movement, a consulting group designed to bridge the generation gap within churches and to train a new generation of prophetic church leadership.

July 9
Rabbi Irwin Kula
president, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Rabbi Irwin Kula is the President of CLAL – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership – a leadership-training institute, think tank, and resource center in New York City. Having inspired millions worldwide by using Jewish wisdom to speak to all aspects of modern life and relationships, Rabbi Kula is an engaged and thoughtful trader in the global marketplace of ideas. He has led a Passover Seder in Bhutan; consulted with government officials in Rwanda; and met with leaders as diverse as the Dalai Lama and Queen Noor to discuss compassionate leadership. Across the United States, he works constantly and tirelessly with religious as well as business and community leaders, corporate and family foundations, and religious and philanthropic institutions to promote leadership development and institutional change.

For all this and more, Rabbi Kula received the 2008 Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award for his work “toward equality, liberty, and a truly inter-religious community.” Fast Company magazine and “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” (PBS) both named him one of the leaders shaping the American spiritual landscape. And Newsweek ranked him in the Top 10 of its “Top 50 Rabbis in America” for the third year in a row. Rabbi Kula is in constant demand across the media, both on- and offline, for the distinctive perspective he offers on matters both spiritual and secular. He is a regular on NBC’s Today Show and co-host of the weekly radio show, “Hirschfield and Kula.” He has appeared several times on The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as The O’Reilly Factor (Fox), Frontline (PBS), and many others. He also blogs regularly for “The Huffington Post” and for the WashingtonPost/Newsweek.com’s “On Faith.”

Rabbi Kula has written several influential texts on religion and spirituality. Author of Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, in 2003 Rabbi Kula hosted a 13-part public television special, “Simple Wisdom with Irwin Kula,” which used Jewish wisdom to explore such life issues as relationships, money, work, and sex. He explored similar themes in another public television special, “The Hidden Wisdom of Our Yearnings.”

Rabbi Irwin Kula received his B.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University, his B.H.L. from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA) in NY, and his M.A. in Rabbinics and Rabbinic Ordination from JTSA. An eighth-generation rabbi, he has headed congregations in St. Louis, MO, Queens, NY, and Jerusalem, Israel, and co-founded the Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living in Chicago.

Theme: Women of the Middle East
Week Three - July 12-16

Varying the theme for this week, the 2:00 Interfaith Lecture Series is inviting five women from the Middle East to present the unique and specific experiences of women in this part of the world – women who lead as well as women who hold civil society together beneath the radar of the media and the political decision-makers. Invited to this conversation are women from Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon. Dr. Sakena Yacoobi from Afghanistan has already accepted and will lecture on Thursday, July 15.

MON 12

TUE 13

WED 14 Haleh Esfandiari

THU 15 Sakena Yacoobi

FRI 16

Wednesday, July 14
Haleh Esfandiari
director, Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Haleh Esfandiari, the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, has had a rich and varied career. In her native Iran, she was a journalist, served as deputy secretary general of the Women's Organization of Iran, and was the deputy director of a cultural foundation for which she was responsible for the activities of several museums and art and cultural centers. She taught Persian language at Oxford University and, prior to coming to the Wilson Center, from 1980 to 1994, she taught Persian language and contemporary Persian literature and courses on the women's movement in Iran at Princeton University.

Haleh Esfandiari is the author of My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran (September 2009), Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution (1997), editor of Iranian Women: Past, Present and Future (1977), co-author of Best Practices: Progressive Family Laws in Muslim Countries, the co-editor of The Economic Dimensions of Middle Eastern History (1990) and also of the of the multi-volume memoirs of the famed Iranian scholar, Ghassem Ghani.

Her articles have appeared in essay collections in a number of books as well as in Foreign Policy, Journal of Democracy, Princeton Papers in Near Eastern Studies, New Republic, Wilson Quarterly, Chronicle of Higher Education and Middle East Review. Her Washington Post Op-Ed pieces include “Held in My Homeland” (September 2007) and “Tehran's Self-Fulfilling Paranoia” (August 2009). She has also written for blogs such as the New York Review of Books Blog with “Iran’s Harshest Sentence for an Innocent Scholar” (October 2009) and “Iran’s Women of War” (January 2010), as well as “Why Iran Freed Roxana Saberi” (May 2009) in the Daily Beast.

Haleh Esfandiari is the first recipient of a yearly award established in her name, the Haleh Esfandiari Award; this award was presented to her by a group of businesswomen and activists from countries across the Middle East and North Africa region on the occasion of a conference sponsored by the Wilson Center – Women Entrepreneurs: Business and Legal Reform in the MENA Region – held in Amman, Jordan on May 20-22, 2008. She is also the recipient of the Special American Red Cross Award (2008), an honorary degree from Georgetown University Law Center (2008), the Women's Equality Award from the National Council of Women's Organizations (2008), Miss Hall’s School Woman of Distinction Award (April 2009), a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant and was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars from 1995 to 1996. Dr. Esfandiari is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Project on Middle East Democracy and, in December 2008, became one of three first annual recipients of POMED’s “Leader for Democracy” award. She was featured in Parade magazine (May 2008), in O, the Oprah Winfrey magazine (November 2008), and in Vogue magazine (August 2009). Her memoir, My Prison, My Home, based on Esfandiari’s arrest by the Iranian security authorities in 2007, after which she spent 105 days in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Prison, was published in September 2009.

July 15
Sakena Yacoobi
executive director, Afghan Institute of Learning

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an Afghan women-led NGO she founded in 1995. The organization was established to provide teacher training to Afghan women, to support education for boys and girls, and to provide health education to women and children. Under Dr. Yacoobi’s leadership AIL has established itself as a groundbreaking, visionary organization which works at the grassroots level and empowers women and communities to find ways to bring education and health services to rural and poor urban girls, women, and other poor and disenfranchised Afghans. AIL was the first organization to offer human rights and leadership training to Afghan women, supported 80 underground home schools for 3000 girls in Afghanistan after the Taliban closed girls’ schools in the 1990s, and was the first organization that opened Women’s Learning Centers for Afghan women—a concept now copied by many organizations throughout Afghanistan. Using their grassroots strategies and holistic approach, AIL now serves 350,000 women and children each year through its training programs, Educational Learning Centers, schools, and clinics in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since 1996, over 6,900,000 Afghans have benefited from AIL’s education and health programs.

In addition to her work with AIL, Dr. Yacoobi has been a panelist and speaker on education for women and children at a number of international conferences, including the Clinton Global Initiative, California Governor’s Conference on Women and Families, the Central Eurasian Studies Society conference at Harvard University, the One World Forum at Warwick University in England, Association for Women in Development in Bangkok, and the International Institute for Peace Education in South Korea, Turkey, Greece and Costa Rica. She has been instrumental in focusing attention on the urgent need for women’s rights and education and healthcare in Afghanistan.

Dr. Yacoobi and AIL have received international recognition for their efforts on behalf of Afghan women and children. In 2001 she was awarded the Billy Graham award from the Rex Foundation in recognition of the efforts of the Afghan Institute of Learning to assist children who are victims of political oppression and human rights violations. AIL and Dr. Yacoobi are co-recipients of the 2003 Peacemakers in Action Award of the Tanenbaum Center for Inter-religious Understanding and the 2004 Women’s Rights Prize of the Peter Gruber Foundation. She and AIL have received recognition of service awards from the Ministry of Education in Herat, Afghanistan, the district governments of Mir Bacha Kot, Shakardara, Kalakan, Farza, and sixth district Kabul Afghanistan and from numerous Afghan organizations. In 2005 Prof. Yacoobi was awarded the Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy, and she was among the 1,000 women nominated to jointly receive the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2006 Dr. Yacoobi received the Citizen Leader Award from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and in 2007 she was inducted as the University’s first Ashoka Fellow from Afghanistan and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of the Pacific for her leadership and human rights work for women and children. Dr. Yacoobi received the 2007 Gleitsman International Activist Award at Harvard University, and in 2008 she received an honorary Doctor of Humanitarian Service degree from Loma Linda University, recognizing her distinguished contribution to society. Dr. Yacoobi received the 2009 Americans for UNFPA Board of Advocates Award for the Health and Dignity of Women, as well as the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership for her outstanding work.

Born in Herat, Afghanistan, Dr. Yacoobi came to the United States in the 1970s, earning a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of the Pacific and a master’s degree in public health from Loma Linda University. Before returning in 1990 to work with her people, she was a health consultant and professor at D’Etre University. While working with refugees in Pakistan, she published eight Dari-language teacher training guides, and during that time also served as the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) delegate working on the education portion of the United Nation’s Rehabilitation Plan for Afghanistan. Sakena Yacoobi is co-founder and Vice-president of Creating Hope International, a Michigan based non-profit organization. Her affiliations include the following: *Afghan National Coordinating Body * Afghan Women’s Law Group * Afghan Women’s Network * Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, Member & Former Steering Committee Member * AWID * Global Fund for Women, Board Member * Global Peace Initiative for Women, member of Contemplative Alliance * Henry J. Kravis Prize in Leadership, Nomination Advisor* The Muslims Women’s Fund, member Global Advisory Network, * The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, Advisor on the Women’s Rights Prize committee* Policy Council on Afghan Women, Steering Committee Member * Sisterhood Global Institute * University of the Pacific, Global Center Advisory Board member* Women’s Learning Partnership, Program Advisor & Roaming Institute for Women’s Leadership * Women’s Refugee Commission, Commissioner * World Affairs Council of Northern California.

Theme: Nuclear Disarmament
Week Four - July 19-23

Nuclear disarmament has long been the heart-felt cry of the religious community. The Department of Religion will bring both religious and non-religious voices to the 2:00 pm podium to examine who, if any, has the right “to have and to hold” nuclear weapons. The issue of who holds the reins of power on this issue is of deep concern to the world community – more critical at this time than ever.

MON 19 Jonathan Granoff

TUE 20 Tyler Wigg-Stevenson

WED 21

THU 22

FRI 23 Michael Kinnamon

July 19
Jonathan Granoff
author, attorney, and international peace activist

Jonathan Granoff is an author, attorney, and international peace activist. His life's work is dedicated to the total elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide. To that end, he is the current president of the Global Security Institute, a nonprofit organization committed to the elimination of nuclear weapons. He also serves as the Co-Chair of the American Bar Association's Committee on Arms Control and National Security, and as the Vice President of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security at the UN, which is regarded as a primary ally of the international movement for arms control, peace, and disarmament. He holds positions on numerous governing and advisory boards including the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, the Lawyers Alliance for World Security, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Bipartisan Security Group, and the Middle Powers Initiative.

Mr. Granoff has lectured worldwide, emphasizing the legal, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of human development and security, with a specific focus on the threats posed by nuclear weapons. He is the award-winning screenwriter of The Constitution: the Document that Created a Nation, and has been featured in more than 30 publications, including The Sovereignty Revolution by Alan Cranston. He practices law in Philadelphia.

July 20
Tyler Wigg-Stevenson
policy director, Faithful Security

Rev. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson is Policy Director of Faithful Security, the national Religious Partnership on Nuclear Weapons Danger. Rev. Wigg-Stevenson, an ordained Baptist minister, is employed by the Fourth Freedom Forum as director of the Two Futures Project. He previously served under the late Sen. Alan Cranston at the Global Security Institute and has served on GSI’s Board since 2001. He is also the author of Brand Jesus: Christianity in a Consumerist Age, and numerous articles and essays. He holds degrees from Swarthmore College and Yale Divinity School, and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

July 23
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
general secretary, National Council of Churches of Christ

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergyman and a long-time educator, ecumenical leader, and outspoken advocate for nuclear disarmament, is the ninth General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCCC) in the USA. He was executive secretary of the World Council of Church’s Commission on Faith and Order from 1980 to 1983, and has served as Professor of Mission, Peace, and Ecumenical Studies at Eden Theological Seminary since 2000. He was professor of Theology and Ecumenical Studies at Lexington (Kentucky) Theological Seminary from 1988 to 2000, and dean of the seminary from 1988 to 1998. Assistant Professor of Theology at Christian Theological Seminary (Indianapolis) from 1983 to 1988 and Acting Dean from 1986 to 1988, he was a visiting professor at United Theological College and South Asian Theological Institute, Bangalore, India, in 1987 and 1997.

Michael Kinnamon has written extensively on the ecumenical movement, most recently The Vision of the Ecumenical Movement and How it has Been Impoverished by its Friends. He wrote the official report of the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and he is the co-editor of The Ecumenical Movement: An Anthology of Key Texts and Voices, a volume widely regarded as an essential tool for students of ecumenism.

Dr. Kinnamon earned a Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in the field of religion and literature, an A.B. degree from Brown University, and he has also studied at Tel Aviv University.

Theme: The Ethical Dimensions of Photography
Week Five - July 26-30

Expanding the theme for this week, the 2:00 lectures will examine the ethical lens of photography through which to see the issues that hold us accountable as humans for the quality of life among us and for our stewardship of the planet that we share as home. Ethical issues revealed by photography will include war and genocide, marketplace and commerce, technology, journalism, and religion, and the power of photography to engender spiritual activism will also be explored.

MON 26 Roger Lipsey

TUE 27 Denise Bethel

WED 28 James Colton

THU 29 Fred Ritchin

FRI 30 Anthony Bannon

July 26
Roger Lipsey
art historian, editor, author; director, Society for Myth and Tradition

Dr. Roger Lipsey is an art historian, editor, and author, and serves as the director of the Society for Myth and Tradition, the publisher of Parabola magazine. He has written on a wide range of topics and intellectual figures, but his greatest contributions to the body of perennialist literature are undoubtedly the three volumes he edited of the works of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, on whose life and work is considered the leading authority. In this capacity he has contributed the "Introduction" to Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? The Traditional View of Art: Revised Edition with Previously Unpublished Author's Notes by Coomaraswamy, edited by William Wroth. As an author, his most recent books have been Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton, and Have You Been to Delphi? Tales of the Ancient Oracle for Modern Minds.

Roger Lipsey earned both his MA and Ph.D. degrees from New York University. His Ph.D. was in the history of art at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU.

July 27
Denise Bethel
director, Photographs Department, Sotheby's, New York

Denise Bethel, Director of the Photographs Department, Sotheby's, New York, is the senior expert in the world of photographs auctions in the United States. In the past decade, she has established Sotheby's New York as the photographs market leader in practically every auction category -- setting world records for a host of blue-chip photographers, as well as record sale totals for private, corporate, and museum photographs collections. Now in her twenty-eighth year of conducting photographs sales, Denise has hammered down the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction, 'The Pond -- Moonlight' by Edward Steichen, at $2, 928,000. This was included in the February 2006 landmark Sotheby's sale, Important Photographs from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including works from the Gilman Paper Company Collection, which brought a total of $14,982,900 – a record for a single-owner collection of photographs sold at auction. Trusted by collectors, curators, and dealers the world over, Ms. Bethel has garnered for Sotheby's the lion's share of photographs sold by American museums in the past several years, among them works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the City of New York, the George Eastman House, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal.

July 28
James Colton
photography editor, Sports Illustrated

James K. Colton is the photography editor for Sports Illustrated. Having begun his career in 1972 as the color picture editor for the Associated Press, five years later he joined Newsweek as a senior photo editor for international news. In 1988, he became executive vice-president and general manager of Sipa Press in New York, before returning to Newsweek in 1992 as the director of photography. He was presented with the "Golden Career Award" at FotoFusion 2004 by the Palm Beach Photographic Centre; was Jury Chairman for the World Press Photo contest in 2005; received an International Photography Awards "Lucie" for Picture Editor of the Year in 2007; was named Magazine Picture Editor of the Year in 2008 by the National Press Photographers Association; and has been acknowledged as one of the 100 most important people in photography by American Photo.

James Colton is on the Board of Directors of the Eddie Adams Workshop, and is a mentor for J Camp, a national program that recruits talented high school students of color, sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association.

July 29
Fred Ritchin
professor, Tisch School at NYU; director, PixelPress

Fred Ritchin is professor at the Tisch School at NYU, and the director of PixelPress (www.pixelpress.org), creating web sites, books, and exhibitions investigating new documentaries and promoting human rights. He is the author of After Photography, In Our Own Image: The Coming Revolution in Photography and co-author of An Uncertain Grace: The Photographs of Sebastiao Salgado; In Our Time: The World As Seen by Magnum Photographers; and Mexico Through Foreign Eyes.

The former picture editor of Horizon magazine and the New York Times Magazine, former executive editor of Camera Arts magazine, and the founding director of the photojournalism and documentary photography educational program, International Center of Photography, Fred Ritchin has curated numerous exhibits and has contributed essays and articles on mass media and digital communications to several books, including Under Fire: Great Photographers and Writers on the Vietnam War; Sahel: Man in Distress; The Critical Image; Photo Video: Photography in the Age of the Computer; A New History of Photography; National Geographic Photos: Milestones; and to periodicals and catalogs, including Aperture, Camera Arts, Le Monde, The New York Times, Newsday, Nieman Reports, Print, Xposeptember, XXIst Century, and the Village Voice. The former series editor of Image and Imaginatio, he lectures and conducts workshops internationally on new media and documentary.

Fred Ritchin is the recipient of the Presidential Fellowship for Junior Faculty at NYU, the Markle Foundation grant, and the Hasselblad Foundation grant for the future web project “Witnessing and the Web: An Experiment in Documentary Photography.” He was awarded the David Payne-Carter Award for Teaching Excellence, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service by the New York Times for the web site, “Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace.” He also created the first multimedia version of the daily New York Times.

July 30
Anthony Bannon
director, George Eastman House, the International Museum of Photography and Film

Anthony Bannon is Director of George Eastman House, the International Museum of Photography and Film, located in Rochester, New York, the seventh director to serve in this capacity. Prior to his appointment in 1996, Dr. Bannon was Assistant Vice-President of Cultural Affairs at the State University of New York College at Buffalo, the largest college in the State University System, and Director of its Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Dr. Bannon has worked as a critic, filmmaker, and educator. His book, Photo Pictorialists of Buffalo, won the American Photographic Historical Society’s merit award. His writing on deafness won the Gallaudet University Award, and his book on photographer Steve McCurry was recently published by Phaidon Press. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Bonaventure University, and a Master’s degree in Media Studies and Ph.D. in the area of Cultural Studies, both from the English Department at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Theme: Public Education: A Moral Imperative
Week Six - August 2-6

A free and excellent public education is the right of every child, and a democratic society will only succeed if there exists an educated public. Public education is, therefore, a moral imperative – a process in which every child is enabled to reach his/her God-given potential. In this week the Department of Religion will bring to the conversation on this perspective on Public Education experts in the field of education from both the private and public sectors.

MON 2 Ronald Richard

TUE 3

WED 4

THU 5 Jeffrey R. Beard

FRI 6 Cathy Battaglia, Maria Hersey, Marion Pittman- Couch

August 2
Ronald B. Richard
president & CEO, The Cleveland Foundation

Ronn Richard is the president & CEO of The Cleveland Foundation. Having held over the past 26 years a variety of key management positions in government, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector, early in his career Mr. Richard was a U.S. diplomat serving at the American Consulate General in Osaka/Kobe, Japan and at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. as a desk officer for North Korean, Greek, and Turkish affairs respectively. He also served in San Francisco as a Pearson Program Fellow where he researched and reported on U.S.-East Asian and U.S.-Latin American trade, investment flows, and technology transfers. In addition to his responsibilities at the Foundation, in January 2009 Mr. Richard was appointed by Governor Strickland to the volunteer temporary post of Infrastructure Czar to oversee the expenditure of the infrastructure components of the federal stimulus funds for Ohio.

Since his arrival in Cleveland, Mr. Richard has joined the boards of Council on Foundations, Living Cities, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Ohio Grantmakers Forum, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, Ohio Business Development Coalition, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital National Leadership Council, and Friends of the Mentally Retarded Campaign Committee. Mr. Richard chaired the Ohio Grantmakers Forum’s Task Force on educational reform for the State of Ohio.

Mr. Richard served for many years on the board of trustees of Spelman College and on the board of advisors of the Landegger Program in International Business Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He was a visiting professor for international business at Bennett College in North Carolina; currently serves on the board of trustees of the International Biomedical Research Alliance (an academic joint venture between NIH-Oxford and Cambridge Universities) and the Finca Vigía Foundation (dedicated to preserving Ernest Hemingway’s home in Cuba); and also serves on two corporate boards in the biotech and metals sectors.

Mr. Richard holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, a bachelor’s degree in history from Washington University in St. Louis, and honorary doctorates from Notre Dame College and Baldwin-Wallace College. He is a recipient of the African-American President’s Council Champion Award for his work in the area of inclusive economic development, and in 2007 he received Wheaton College’s Otis Award for Social Justice (previous recipients include Senator Edward Kennedy, Gloria Steinem and Marian Wright Edelman). Mr. Richard was inducted into Hiram College’s Garfield Society (the college’s highest honor) and was the recipient of the Entrepreneurs for Sustainability’s 2007 Champion of Sustainability award. Mr. Richard is also a member of the Cleveland Committee on Foreign Relations.

August 5
Jeffrey R. Beard
director general, International Baccalaureate North America

Theme: Sacred Space: Jerusalem
Week Seven - August 9-13

Considered by the three Abrahamic Faiths as the most holy of sacred places, the Department of Religion will observe Abrahamic week by focusing on the most iconic of sacred spaces, Jerusalem. Invited from Jerusalem to participate in the conversation are members of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths who can impart both their understandings of how this penultimate sacred space came to be so regarded, as well as their visions of how it might be shared in peace.

MON 9 Azim Nanji

TUE 10

WED 11

THU 12

FRI 13

August 9
Azim Nanji
Senior Associate Director, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University

Theme: Powering the Future: An Exploration of the World's Religions
Week Eight - August 16-20

Keynoted by Professor Diana Eck, founder and director of Harvard’s Pluralism Project, and concluded by Karen Armstrong, the world’s most prolific author on the world’s religions, the 2:00 Interfaith Lecture Series will explore the relevance to our shared future of the world’s great religions, about which most in the West know very little. In addition to the Abrahamic traditions, the Department of Religion will focus on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, and the Baha’i Faith.

MON 16 Diana Eck

TUE 17

WED 18

THU 19 Glenford Mitchell

FRI 20 Karen Armstrong

August 19
Glenford Mitchell
Baha’i Faith Universal House of Justice

Theme: The Supreme Court: Issues of Justice and Equality
Week Nine - August 23-27

This week in which Chautauqua focuses on the highest court in our judicial system, the 2:00 lectures will present five legal issues of justice and equality which have had a wide impact on society, examining these issues both in terms of the law as well as the ethical / moral impacts of the questions.

MON 23

TUE 24

WED 25

THU 26

FRI 27