Search For Meaning Book Festival 2012 - Author Bios

Betsey Beckman, M.M. 

Presentation Title: The Dancing Word: Body Wisdom from the Well

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 107 

Bio: Betsey Beckman, M.M. is nationally acclaimed as sacred dancer, storyteller, retreat leader and dancing Spiritual Director. With her unique repertory of sacred storydances, she is regularly featured as artist/presenter at national conventions as well as local churches, including her home parish, St. Patrick’s. She holds a Masters in Ministry from Seattle University, a certificate in Movement Therapy, and is a certified InterPlay leader. Betsey is a faculty member for the Soul Care Institute of the Abbey of the Arts, and her publications include Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction (co-authored with Christine Paintner) and The Dancing Word series of DVDs on scripture and embodied prayer.

Betsey’s latest DVD, The Dancing Word: Woman at the Well features the beauty of Seattle University’s Campus and the nearby Washington Park Arboretum as the backdrop for an intriguing retelling of the classic Biblical story. Her previous video, The Dancing Word: Mary Magdalene, (filmed at Holyrood Cemetery) was featured in the 2011 Los Angeles Religious Education Film Showcase. Betsey has been enjoying embracing the art of film to capture and expand the scope of her artistic works which celebrate and embody the sacred feminine in dance, nature, theology and scripture.

Links:

http://www.thedancingword.com/

http://www.awakeningthecreativespirit.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/BBeckdance

Presentation Title: A Young Widow's Transformation: How My Husband's 9/11Death Improved My Life

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | PIGOTT 109

Bio: Abigail Carter wrote The Alchemy ofLoss: A Young Widow's Transformation as a form of catharsis afterher husband's death in the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Toronto's Globe and Mail called it "Eloquent and honest...Reading it is like sitting at your own kitchen table listening to Abigail Carter's story, a story that is unnerving, uplifting andoccasionally humorous… remarkable. "The book was also listed as one of The Globe's top 100 books of 2008 and was nominated for the BC National Award for Canadian Nonfiction. A Canadian National Bestseller, The Alchemy of Loss is also published in the US (HCI) Australia (Hachette) and translated into Dutch (Mistral). Her work has appeared in SELF magazine, Reader's Digest Canada, MSN.com and MORE.com. Abigail moved from New Jersey to Seattle in 2005, where she now lives with her two children.

Fr. Nathan G. Castle, O.P.

Presentation Title: And Toto, Too: "The Wizard of Oz" as a Spiritual Adventure

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | SULLIVAN 110

Bio: Nathan G. Castle, O.P. is originally from Groves, Texas. He graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio. Castle received MA and MDiv degrees from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California and has served in campus ministries in California and Arizona for the last 22 years. He currently serves as Director of the Catholic Community at Stanford. Castle has chaired the Executive Board of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA). He enjoys golf, spending time with friends and cheering on his favorite sports teams, especially Stanford football and Houston Astros baseball.

Links:

http://www.andtoto.org/

http://twitter.com/andtototoo

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/And-Toto-Too-The-Wizard-of-Oz-as-a-Spiritual-Adventure

Linda Michelle Cohen, M.A.

Presentation Title: Processing Grief with Mitzvahs: Unexpected Synergy

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 107

Bio: When her father passed away in 2006, Linda Cohen's busy life as a mother, wife and entrepreneur came to a screeching halt. She took a spiritual sabbatical to work through her grief and she came out of it resolved to embark upon a project: perform one thousand acts of kindness or mitzvahs to honor her father's memory. More than a touching story of a daughter's love for her father, Cohen's first book, 1000 Mitzvahs: How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal, Inspire and Change Your Life is a testament to the transformational power of kindness. Linda has been interviewed for television, radio and the press throughout the United States regarding this project.

Linda lives with her husband, two children, and their dog in Portland, Oregon. She holds a bachelor's degree in Jewish Studies from American Jewish University in Los Angeles and a master's degree from Brandeis University in Jewish Communal Service. She has been both a professional and a lay leader within the Jewish community. Throughout her life, she has participated in untold numbers of volunteer projects. She writes and speaks on the power of mitzvahs and volunteerism.

Links:     http://1000mitzvahs.org/
                http://www.facebook.com/1000mitzvahs 
                http://www.facebook.com/pages/1000-Mitzvahs/182648048433951 
                http://www.linkedin.com/in/lindamcohen 
                http://twitter.com/mitzvahs

Bio: REV. FAUSTINO CRUZ, SM, PHD, has joined the School of Theology and Ministry for one year, as a Visiting Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership. ―I was born and raised in Manila, the Philippines and migrated to the United States in 1982 to join the Society of Mary (Marists), the religious community of which the fourth bishop of Seattle, Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy, was a member.

For over 25 years, I have ministered with migrants and refugees at parish, diocesan, and national levels as catechetical consultant, educator, community organizer, and pastor in the United States, Latin America, and the Philippines. In 2000, before completing my PhD in Theology and Education at Boston College, I joined the faculty of the Franciscan School of Theology (FST) in Berkeley, California, which is one of the member schools of an ecumenical and inter-religious partnership known as the Graduate Theological Union (GTU). For the past six years, I taught in the area of Practical Theology and Education, while concurrently serving as Executive Vice President and Academic Dean of FST. My interdisciplinary research is in the area of religion, education, and immigration.

As a visiting professor at STM, I teach courses in intercultural leadership, educational ministry, and Filipino American/Asian theologies, and assist our students in integrating their academic, ministerial, and spiritual formation. I also help carry out the school’s strategic plan, particularly in the areas of curriculum development, global engagement, and recruitment of Latino/a and Asian students.

Links:

Presentation Title:  Spiritual Poems for aSecular World: Writing Against the Grain

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | SULLIVAN Ct C3 

Bio: Sharon Cumberland was born and raised in the Episcopal Church. She lived at the Catholic Worker in New York City for one year, was a member of the Episcopal Order of Saint Helena for three years, and has served on the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Carroll Street, Brooklyn and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Queen Anne, Seattle. After a career in New York as an arts manager at the Lincoln Center Theater Company and the Metropolitan Opera, she taught in the New York City public school system while earning a Ph.D. in English from the City University of New York. She is now an Associate Professor of English at Seattle University and the Director of the Creative Writing Program. She has published poems in many journals, including Verse, Image, Iowa Review, and Ploughshares. She won Kalliope's Sue Saniel Elkind Award, The Pacific Northwest Writer's Association's Zola Award for Poetry, and the Writers Haven Press Bright Side Award.  She was a Writer in Residence at the Jack Straw Foundation in 2007 and has received thirteen artist residency grants at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York. She was the poet in residence in 2010 for the Seasons Music Festival in Yakima, WA where six composers set her poems to music. Her chapbooks are The Arithmetic of Mourning from Green Rock Press, Greatest Hits 1985-2000, from Pudding House Press, and a combined chapbook with poet Dennis Caswell in Floating Bridge Review 3. Her first full-length collection is Peculiar Honors, from Black Heron Press. Her second collection will be published by BlackHeron in 2013.

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peculiar-Honors/118823324894178?sk=wall

Presentation Title: Peacemaking as a Meaningful Way of Life: Writing, Practicing, and Living the Way of Peace and Gospel Non-Violence

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT AUDITORIUM 104

Bio:  John Dear is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. A Jesuit priest, pastor, peacemaker, organizer, lecturer, and retreat leader, he is the author/editor of 25 books, including his autobiography, A Persistent Peace. In 2008, John was nominated for theNobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

From 1998 until December 2000, he served as the executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States.

After the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, John served as a Red Cross Chaplain, and became one of the coordinators of the chaplain program at the Family Assistance Center. He worked with some 1,500 family members who lost loved ones, as well as hundreds of firefighters and police officers, while at the same time, he spoke out against the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.

From 2002-2004, he served as pastor of several parishes in northeastern New Mexico. He co-founded Pax Christi New Mexico and works on a nonviolent campaign to disarm Los Alamos. These days, he lectures to tens of thousands of people each year in churches and schools across the country and the world. He also  writes a weekly column for the "National Catholic Reporter" at www.ncrcafe.org.

A longtime practitioner and teacher of nonviolence, John has written hundreds of articles and given thousands of talks on nonviolence.

Links:

http://www.johndear.org/

George Estreich, M.F.A.

Presentation Title: A Revised Inheritance: Tradition, Meaning, and a Daughter with Down Syndrome

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | SULLIVAN Ct C3

Bio: George Estreich's collection of poems, Textbook Illustrations of the Human Body, won the Gorsline Prize and was published by Cloudbank Books. His memoir about raising a daughter with Down syndrome, The Shape of the Eye: Down Syndrome, Family, and the Stories We Inherit, was published this spring by Southern Methodist University Press. He lives in Corvallis with his family.

Links:

http://www.georgeestreich.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shape-of-the-Eye/107782982637208

Presentation Title: The Wisdom of Beauty

Session 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | PIGOTT 208

Bio: Author and artist J. Ruth Gendler is interested in living in a world where people are encouraged to be more lively, compassionate, and creative. She is the author of the award-winning Notes on the Need for Beauty: An Intimate Look at an Essential Quality, the best-selling The Book of Qualities, and the collection Changing Light: The Eternal Cycle of Night and Day. The Book of Qualities has been excerpted widely, used as a classroom exercise in personification and values in schools settings from rural 2nd grades to college English classes, adapted for theater and dance, and quoted widely in sermons and speeches. Gendler's paintings and monotypes have been exhibited nationally. Working as an artist in the schools and leading creativity workshops for twenty five years, Gendler is committed to the arts as an essential part of our education and our spiritual lives.

Links:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/j-ruth-gendler/a/5b2/707

http://redroom.com/member/j-ruth-gendler

Presentation Title: Islamophobia and American History

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 103

Bio: Kambiz GhaneaBassiri is an Associate Professor of Religion and Humanities at Reed College. He received his bachelor's degree in Religious Studies from Claremont McKenna College (1994) and completed his master's and doctoral degrees inIslamic Studies in the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University (2003). During 2006-2007, he served as theInterim Director of Academic Affairs at Dar Al Hadith Al Hassania, a prestigious, state-sponsored Islamic seminary in Rabat, Morocco. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2006 forhis recent book on A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order (Cambridge University Press, 2010). In addition to his work on the history of Islam in America, Dr. GhaneaBassiri specializes in classical and modern Islamic intellectual and social history in the Middle East.

Links:

Dr. Bill Grace

Presentation Title: Sharing the Rock: Co-Shaping Our Future for the Common Good

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | SULLIVAN 110

Bio: Bill is a social justice activist, a traveling teacher, and an architect of ideas. From 1976-1991 Bill served in Higher Education promoting ideas related to moral and civic responsibility, service learning and global citizenship. In 1991 Bill founded the Center for Ethical Leadership. The Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the common good through ethical leadership, civic responsibility and collaborative problem solving. During Bill’s tenure the Center developed a national reputation for innovative and inspired leadership development programs focused on the creation a just society. He served as Executive Director for the next 14 years.

His recent book Sharing the Rock is being used a springboard for a national movement called compact for the Common Good. In addition his current research and writing has focused on the development of spirit-inspired leadership, in order to call forth the wisdom, courage and hope needed in these times. Bill also believes that leadership must be grounded in a global sense of the common good. Therefore he promotes leadership and social action that is grounded in spiritual development, inclusiveness and compassion all of which deepen our commitment to pursue a just and peaceful world. Bill directs Common Good Works (www.commongoodworks.com) and speaks and leads seminars around the world.

Links: http://www.commongoodworks.com

Jennifer Anne Grosser

Presentation Title: Displaced: Finding Meaning Outside the Comfort Zone

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 200

Bio: Having grown up in a mono-cultural family with a cross-cultural focus, Jennifer Grosser has loved travel and interacting with other cultures from a very early age. As the daughter of former missionaries, she spent six of her earliest years in Honduras, although her own cultural transition there was rather unsuccessful. In college, she traveled to India for five weeks, where she worked mainly with children. After paying off education-incurred debts by working as a nanny in Connecticut, she moved to London, England, to work with refugees and other migrants in the East End, some of whom inspired her first novel, Trees in the Pavement.

After more than five years there, she returned to the US where she has worked variously as a living history interpreter, paralegal's assistant, Starbucks barista and currently a director of Christian Education at a community church. She shares the meaning she finds in her faith with children, youth and women in her community, and is mulling over the next steps to publication for her second novel, Favored One, about Miryam the mother of Yeshua.

Links:

http://thatsajennstory.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifergrosser

http://www.goodreads.com/jennw2ns

David Guterson

Presentation Title: A Tranquil Star

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | SULLIVAN Ct C5

Bio: David Guterson was born in Seattle in 1956. His books include a collection of short stories, The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind (1989), and a book of essays called Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense (1992). He is also the author of the novels Snow Falling on Cedars (1994), which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, East of the Mountains (1998), Our Lady of the Forest (2003), The Other (2008), and Ed King (2011). He currently lives on Bainbridge Island.

Links:

Presentation Title: Muhammad on the Mountain: An Attempt to Fathom the Unfathomable

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | SULLIVAN Ct C1

Bio: Lesley Hazleton, aka The Accidental Theologist, was the 2011 winner of The Stranger's genius award in literature. She focuses on religion and politics, particularly in the Middle East, and is currently completing a new biography of Muhammad, to be published in spring 2013. Her previous books include the award-winning After the Prophet: the epic story of the Shia-Sunni split and Mary: a flesh-and-blood biography.

Links:

http://accidentaltheologist.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/accidentaltheo

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001955167427

Presentation Title: Finding Meaning Through Cancer: If It's Not About the Hair, Then What IS It About?

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | SULLIVAN Ct C1

Bio: Debra Jarvis is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She is the author of It's Not About the Hair: And Other Certainties of Life & Cancer (Sasquatch Books, 2007) which was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She is also the author of The Journey Through AIDS: A Guide For Loved Ones and Caregivers (Lion, 1992), HIV Positive, Living With AIDS (Lion, 1990), and Take It Again-From The Top (Lion, 1986).  Her video, Palliative Care: Improving Quality of Life For People with Serious Illnesses (2010), won a merit award from the City of Hope. Her work-in-progress is called Enter Wagging: Advice From A Therapy Dog.

She has worked as a hospice spiritual counselor and is a perdiem chaplain for the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Along with her dog Max she does pet therapy work for Group Health Hospice and Ronald McDonald House. She is a commentator for National Public Radio, gives workshops and speaks nationally on cancer, death, dying, finding meaning in life's challenges, spirituality and the importance of quality chocolate.

Jarvis received her Master's in Divinity from Northwest Theological Union, Seattle, 1989; an MA in Christian Arts from New College, Berkeley, 1984; and a BA in Communications from U.C.Berkeley in 1977. She is board certified through the Associationfor Professional Chaplains (APC) and is a Certified Thanatologist through the Association for Death Education and Counseling(ADEC).

Links:

www.debrajarvis.com

www.itsnotaboutthehair@blogspot.com

www.palliativecarevideo.com

Presentation Title: Transforming Talk: A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation

SPECIAL SESSION | 12:30-1:45pm | PIGOTT AUDITORIUM 104

Bio: Rev. Gregory C.V. Johnson and his wife Jill founded the ministry of Standing Together in Utah in March of 2001. Standing Together seeks to advance biblical unity among evangelical churches and pastors in Utah and spiritual transformation throughout our community and state. Prior to founding Standing Together, Greg served as a pastor in three local Utah churches from 1992 to 2001, in Ogden (Washington Heights Baptist Church), Ogden Valley (Ogden Valley Baptist Church), and in Orem (Orem EV Free). It is because of Greg's passion for the Body of Christ to be ONE that he has given himself fully to the task of casting vision for unity, prayer, and strategic evangelism within the context of the Utah culture. It is his heart to see the Body of Christ committed to unity that the world might know that the Father has truly sent the Son (John 17:21). Greg has served as an At-Large Board Member of the National Association of Evangelicals since 2008, and was ordained by the Conservative Baptist Church in America in June of 1993.

Greg was raised in the Mormon Church and was born again at a Christian camp just outside of Colorado Springs at age 14. Because of his background in Mormonism, Greg is passionate about building a relational dialogue with members of the Mormon faith, particularly with Mormon leaders and scholars. He facilitates and participates in LDS/evangelical dialogues between university students, scholars, leaders, and with his primary LDS dialogue partner, Dr. Robert Millet of BYU. Greg and Bob released, "Bridging the Divide: The Continuing Conversation Between a Mormon and an Evangelical," in 2007, and have held 61 public dialogues throughout the US and in Canada and England. Greg graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara where he majored in Social Science with an emphasis in Sociology and received a Minor in Religious Studies in 1989. After college, Greg graduated with Honors and received a Masters of Divinity from Denver Theological Seminary in 1992. He is married to Jill and they have four children, Indiana, Reagan, California, and America.

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Standing-Together

Presentation Title: Painting as Poetry: Self Discovery in the Dynamic Flow

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 100

Bio: Katie finds the process of art making to be a powerful vehicle for connecting her to deeper aspects of her own true nature. Her focus is on the creative journey and its inherent capacity to inform, heal, and transform our lives. Intuition and mindfulness guide her creative expression, and she delights in the unexpected twists and turns along the way -divine imperfections - inherent in  the spontaneous creative process.

Her work has been featured in numerous books and magazines, and most recently she authored her first book, Layered Impressions; A Poetic Approach to Mixed Media Painting. Katie teaches mixed media painting and creativity workshops, nationally and online.

Links:

http://joyouslybecoming.typepad.com/joyouslybecoming/

Kathleen MacInnis Kichline, M.Div.

Presentation Title: Gathering Strength From Our Stories: The Intersection of Life and the Word of God

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 100

Bio: Kathleen has served as pastoral associate at St. Thomas More parish in Lynnwood, WA for more than twenty years. She earned her Masters of Divinity at Seattle University where she also completed the Pastoral Leadership Program. Married with two children and four grandchildren, she herself is one of seven sisters. She draws from all of these experiences to write scripture studies, facilitate groups, and give retreats that frequently focus on the various relationships in a woman’s life.

She is sustained by the stories of women—women she encounters in life and ministry as well as the women of scripture who come alive in the conversations that spring out of their stories. Through the medium of the Living Word, the lives of women now and then connect in real and life-changing ways, ways that give strength for our journey and wisdom in our search for meaning.

Links:

http://www.sistersinscripture.com/

Michael Lisagor

Presentation Title: Romancing the Buddha: Embracing Buddhism in My Everyday Life

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 103

Bio: Mike Lisagor, president of Celerity Works, has been practicing Nichiren Buddhism together with his wife, Trude, for 42 years. He has written over 100 articles for numerous newspapers and magazines including the Bainbridge Review, World Tribune and Living Buddhism. Mike’s one-man show, based on his book, Romancing the Buddha, directed by Stephen Fogell, has played to full houses in Los Angeles, Washington, D. C. and Bainbridge Island.

Mike speaks about Buddhism at interfaith community events and has conducted numerous book readings where he openly shares his experiences dealing with his wife's illness, his depression and raising children with a Buddhist perspective. His favorite quote is, "a great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind." (Soka Gakkai International president, Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution).

Links:

http://www.romancingthebuddha.com

http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Buddha-Embracing-Buddhism-Everyday/dp/097232674X

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QSuCQzH7n8

Presentation Title: Just in Time: What We Discover About Living Well

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | SULLIVAN 105

Bio: Wendy Lustbader, MSW, is the authorof several books and essays that have earned her a national reputation in the field of aging. She is also a popular speaker at conferences throughout the United States and Canada, using storytelling to animate complex subjects. Additionally, she is a skilled psychotherapist, having worked almost twenty years with people from all walks of life at a community clinic in downtown Seattle. Equally passionate as a writer, teacher, and therapist, Wendy brings a social worker's lived experience to her presentations. Currently, she is an Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work in Seattle.

Wendy's newest book, Life Gets Better, explores how life improves as we get older, on every level except the physical. Her first book was co-authored with Nancy Hooyman, Taking Care of Aging Family Members. This is a practical guide to caregiving, with a detailed index to help readers find exactly what they need. Her second book, Counting on Kindness, helps readers to comprehend the complex and often unspeakable feelings which arise when we become dependent on others for help. Her third book is What's Worth Knowing, a collection of pithy insights gathered from older people.

Links:

www.lustbader.com

Thomas Massaro, S.J.

Presentation Title: Social Justice beyond Mere Charity: Catholic Social Teaching in Action

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 205

Bio: Thomas Massaro, S.J., a Jesuit priest of the New England Province, is ­professor of moral theology at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. He holds a doctorate in Christian social ethics from Emory University. His work on Christian approaches to social justice draws upon wide-ranging studies in political science, economics, philosophy and theology. Among the topics that his seven books, numerous articles and frequent lectures have addressed in recent years are welfare reform, globalization, peacemaking, environmental concern, and the ethics of voting and patriotism. He enjoys speaking at academic conferences and in parish settings on topics of social justice and civic responsibility.

Besides writing and teaching courses on Catholic social teaching, religion in public life and ethical dimensions of the economy, Father Massaro seeks to maintain a commitment to hand-on social activism. He recently completed a term on the Peace Commission of the City of Cambridge and is a founding member of the steering committee of Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice.

Links:

Professor Henry Matthews

Presentation Title: The Expression of Islamic Principles and Human Values in the Mosques of Istanbul

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 205

Bio: Henry Matthews, Professor Emeritus of Washington State University, is an architectural historian. Born in England and educated at Cambridge he has practiced architecture and taught at universities on both sides of the Atlantic. He currently teaches part time at the University of Washington. He has published on a variety of topics but recently he has focused on the architecture of Turkey. His book Miletus and Didyma, to be published by Scala in 2012, deals with the city of Miletus which, in the sixth century BCE, was the most important in the entire Greek world, He is currently writing an architectural guide to the Geaeco-Roman cities of Aegean Turkey with a strong emphasis on cultural history.

His recent book Mosques of Istanbul, Including the Mosques of Bursa and Edirne  (Scala Publishers 2010) is both a guide for travelers and an introduction for general readers. Covering the evolution of Ottoman mosques from the 13^th to the 19^th century, he explains the principles of Islamic architecture, and places emphasis on the relationship between Turskish society and religious buildings. The high point of the book is the discussion of sixteenth century Mosques designed by Mimar Sinan which stand as great works of engineering with soaring interior spaces, but also possess human scale. In the Ottoman tradition, they fit into their neighborhoods in complexes providing education, health care and many other social services. He has lectured on Ottoman mosques at museums in the United States, Turkey and Syria.

Links:

http://www.henrymatthews.com/

http://www.mosquesofistanbul.blogspot.com/

http://www.henrymatthewslectures.wordpress.com

Frances McCue

Presentation Title: You Must Revise Your Life: How Writing Helps You See What You Need To

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | SULLIVAN 110

Bio: Frances McCue is a writer and poet who lives in Seattle with her daughter. She is the writer-in-residence at the University of Washington’s Undergraduate Honors Program and an independent “Arts Instigator” who helps people start, or invigorate, creative projects. McCue was the founding director of Richard Hugo House from 1996 to 2006. McCue is a public scholar who brings community arts and culture projects together with work in academia. McCue is the author of two poetry collections, The Stenographer’s Breakfast and The Bled, a newly-released collection of poems about living in Morocco for a year. The Bled just won the Grub Street National Book Award in Boston. Her book on Richard Hugo, The Car That Brought You Here Still Runs, has been reviewed in newspapers throughout the Northwest and in national journals. She has been a Fulbright Senior Scholar, an Echoing Green Fellow and a Klingenstein Fellow. Her work has been supported by Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, 4 Culture and by The Prop Foundation. Currently, she is working on an imaginative recovery of writers from their archives. Maybe it will be nonfiction, maybe not.

Links:

http://www.francesmccue.com

Presentation Title: Dropping the Armor: A Personal Journey across Seattle's Barriers of Race and Class

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 200

Bio: Doug Merlino is the authorof The Hustle: One Team and Ten Lives in Black and White, a work of nonfiction that blends memoir, analysis and reportage to reveal the stories and outcomes of the members of a Seattle interracial basketball team formed in the 1986. Merlino, who was fourteen at the time, was a member of the team. The Hustle won the 2011 Washington State Book Award for Biography/Memoir.

As a journalist, Merlino has reported in Rwanda, Sierra Leone (West Africa), and Eastern Europe, focusing on issues of post-conflict justice and reconciliation. He has contributed to news organizations including the PBS show Frontline/World, Slate, Wired, Legal Affairs and the Seattle Times. Originally from Seattle, he now lives in New York City.

Links:

http://dougmerlino.net

http://twitter.com/dougmerlino

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Doug-Merlino/160948393915300

Bio: Robert L. Millet is Abraham O. Smoot University Professor, Professor of Religious Education, and Director of Publications for the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University. Since joining the BYU faculty in 1983, he has served as chair of the department of Ancient Scripture, dean of Religious Education, and Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding. He is the author of more than sixty books and 160 articles and book chapters dealing mostly with the doctrine and history of the LDS Church and its relationship to other faiths. He and his wife Shauna have six children and ten grandchildren and reside in Orem, Utah.

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Standing-Together

Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D., REACE

Presentation Title: Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 201

Bio: Christine Valters Paintner PhD, REACE is the online Abbess of www.AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery offering classes and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She earned her Ph.D. in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her professional certification as a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE) from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. Christine is the author of several books including The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom (Ave Maria Press). Living in the heart of Seattle with her husband and canine companion, Christine strives to live as a monk in the world and artist of everyday life.

Links:

http://abbeyofthearts.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abbey-of-the-Arts/82259353048

Jan Phillips, M.A.

Presentation Title: No Ordinary Time-The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence and Evolutionary Creativity

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 208

Bio: Jan Phillips is an evolutionary artist, author, workshop director and social activist. She is co-founder and Executive Director of the Livingkindness Foundation (www.livingkindness.org), a global network of grassroots philanthropists turning creativity into compassionate action. Jan is also co-founder of Syracuse Cultural Workers, publishers of artwork for social justice and global consciousness. (http://syracuseculturalworkers.com) She has taught in 23 countries, made a peace pilgrimage around the world, produced 2 CDs of original music, and created several videos on the power of creativity to transform consciousness.

Her books include No Ordinary Time, The Art of Original Thinking-The Making of a Thought Leader, Divining the Body, Marry Your Muse, God is at Eye Level—Photography as a Healing Art, Making Peace, Born Gay, and  A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind. As a performing artist/speaker, Jan brings music, poetry, and images to all her audiences, using the arts to inspire as well as inform. Blending east and west, art and activism, reflection and ritual, Jan’s transformational presentations provoke original thinking and evolutionary action. With stories, humor and cutting edge creativity, she connects the dots between science, spirituality and social action. Visit www.janphillips.com for her books, CDs, videos and calendar of workshops.

Links:

http://janphillips.com/home.htm

http://www.livingkindness.org

Linda Rabben, Ph.D.

Presentation Title: Give Refuge to the Stranger: From Sanctuary to Asylum and Back

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | SULLIVAN Ct C3

Bio: Anthropologist and author Linda Rabben has studied, written about and worked on human rights issues in the United States and other countries for more than 25 years, as a researcher, campaigner and adviser for Amnesty International, the Rainforest Foundation and other nongovernmental organizations.

After doing ethnographic field research in Brazil she received a PhD in sociocultural anthropology and Latin American studies from Cornell University. Her involvement in refugee, asylum and immigration issues goes back to the mid-1990s. In 2007–08 she studied asylum policies and practices as a visiting fellow of the Centre for Study of Human Rights at London School of Economics.  She currently works as a free-lance editor and consultant for nonprofit organizations.

Links: http://www.wordworker.org

Presentation Title: Looking into the Dark: A Lesson in Forgiving the Unforgivable

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | PIGOTT 102

Bio: Naseem is an award-winning authorand journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace Radio, Christian Science Monitor, and Living on Earth. She lives in Oregon with her husband,son, and many animals. When Naseem isn't writing, she's reading, knitting, hiking, gardening, or just watching the seasons roll in and out.

The capacity to forgive the unforgivable has long intrigued Rakha. She has witnessed it in her work as a teacher and consultant for Native American tribes, as a mediator in the clean up of the nuclear site that created the Nagasaki bomb, and as a reporter covering state run executions. It was this later experience that led her to write her groundbreaking novel The Crying Tree. Set in southern Illinois and central Oregon, Rakha tells a story of a mother who must overcome the hate, grief, and secrets that surround the murder of her 15-year-old son, and defy church and family as she attempts to stop the execution of the man who killed her boy.

With the heart of a storyteller, Naseem explores the death penalty and forgiveness with her audience through the lens of our justice system, her experiences as a reporter for public radio, as well as subsequent interviews with crime victims, inmates, corrections officials and exonerated death row prisoners. Naseem finds that within these very human stories lie a multitude of lessons about duty, honor, grief, pain, hatred and the degree to which forgiveness can not only extend but also heal.

Links:

http://www.naseemrakha.com

http://www.facebook.com/thecryingtree

http://www.twitter.com/naseemrakha

http://redroom.com/member/naseem-rakha

Susan Rava, Ph.D.

Presentation Title: God & Alzheimer's

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | PIGOTT 205

Bio: Author, speaker, and award-winning teacher, Susan Rava grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. From an early age, books and writing played a major role in her life. At Vassar College, she majored in philosophy and developed her French during a year in Paris. When she moved back to St. Louis, she met her husband John. Shortly after their marriage, Susan began graduate school in French literature at Washington University in St. Louis, where she taught for many years. On Sunday afternoons, her husband babysat for their three children while she studied, graded papers, and wrote academic articles and op-ed pieces.

After her retirement from teaching, she hoped to devote time to writing, but her parents and in-laws showed signs of aging. Her father-in-law lost his keys, his hearing aids, and most troubling, his nouns. Then he set out alone to swim straight across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee, alerting Susan and her husband to his need for vigilant care. This moment provided Susan with the guiding metaphor for her memoir, SWIMMING SOLO. Here she recounts her family caregiving experiences, tests, and discoveries in a work full of humor and honesty. Susan Rava still lives in St. Louis with her husband and partner in caregiving, John, and their old basset hound, Rufus.

Links:

http://susanrava.com/

http://swimmingsolo.com/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002180987583

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Susan Rich, M.Ed., M.F.A.

Presentation Title: Your Own Private Walden: Poetry As Power

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | PIGOTT 102

Bio: Susan Rich is the author of three collections of poetry, The Alchemist’s Kitchen (2010) which was named a finalist for the Foreword Prize and the Washington State Book Award, Cures Include Travel (2006), and The Cartographer’s Tongue / Poems of the World (2000) which won the PEN Award for Poetry. She has received awards including The Times Literary Supplement of London, Peace Corps Writers and the Fulbright Foundation. Her featured appearances include the Cuirt Literary Festival in Galway, Ireland and the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia. Recent poems have been published in the Harvard Review, Gettysburg Review, Poetry International, The Southern Review and the New England Review. Born and educated in Massachusetts, Susan now makes her home in Seattle.

Links:

http://poet.susanrich.net/

http://thealchemistskitchen.blogspot.com/

Presentation Title: This Present Age: Theology, Culture, and the Search for Meaning in a Purpose-Driven World

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | PIGOTT 200

Bio: Tom Ryan is the Executive Editor of The Other Journal and an Assistant Instructor at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. He earned his Master's of Divinity from the Seattle School.

Links:

http://theotherjournal.com

http://www.facebook.com/theotherjournal

http://www.twitter.com/theotherjournal

http://www.tumblr.com/otherjournal

Presentation Title: Growing Up on Indian Reservations: Historical Fiction Inspired by Real Life

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 102

Bio: Katherine Schlick Noe is Professor of Education and Director of Literacy in the College of Education at Seattle University. A former high school English and reading teacher, she received her Ph.D. in Reading/Language Arts from the University of Washington. Katherine works with beginning teachers in the Master in Teaching Program and directs the master's degree program in Literacy for Special Needs, preparing reading specialists. She is webmaster of the Literature Circles Resource Center and co-author of four books on literature circles for teachers. Something to Hold, Katherine's first novel for young readers, is inspired by her childhood experiences living on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in central Oregon and explores issues of belonging, friendship, and speaking out against injustice.

Links:

http://katherineschlicknoe.com

Presentation Title:  A Chef's Moral Dilemma: Navigating the Waters of Sustainable Seafood

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | SULLIVAN Ct C1

Bio: When she's not cavorting around the woods picking wild things or combing the beaches for her next meal, Becky Selengut works as a private chef and cooking teacher. Selengut  graduated from the Seattle Culinary Academy at the top of her class and then cut her teeth working the line at several Seattle-area restaurants. An alumna of the internationally renowned Herbfarm Restaurant, Selengut was the founder of Seasonalcornucopia.com, an online seasonal foods database, writes a humor column for Edible Seattle magazine, runs the award-winning blog Chefreinvented.com, is the co-author of the Washington Local and Seasonal Cookbook, and author of Good Fish: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the Pacific Coast.  For her ocean conservation work with consumers, Selengut received the Seafood Ambassador Award from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Selengut lives in Seattle with her sommelier wife, April Pogue, and their two sweet, senile dogs.

Links:

http://facebook.com/bselengut

http://www.twitter.com/chefreinvented

Presentation Title: Reclaiming the Authentic Self

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | SULLIVAN Ct C6

Bio: Dr. Smith has a Doctorate degree in Restorative Spirituality and Leadership from Bakke Graduate University/ABSW San Francisco, Master's Degree in Divinity and Certificate in Transforming Spirituality from Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry. Other education credentials include but not limited to: Change Management - Benedictine University, Chicago; Certificate in Leadership - Duke University, North Carolina; Certificate in Mediation - Atlantic Justice Center.

She currently serves as:

Having acquired over 20 years of coaching, Linda knows how to journey with people helping them to achieve their dreams, empowering them to new level of greatness and living to fullness of their potential as they discover new untapped possibilities that lies dormant.

Links:

http://www.lindasmithcoachingconsultingleadership.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dr-linda-smith/17/441/4a2

Presentation Title: Encountering Cruelty: Love and Reconciliation in the 21st Century

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT 109

Presentation Title: Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama: How Enlightened Masculinity Could Save the World

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | SULLIVAN Ct C5

Bio: Rebecca Walker is an award-winning author and lecturer based in Hawaii. She is the author of the memoirs Black, White and Jewish and Baby Love and editor of the anthologies To Be Real, What Makes a Man, and One Big Happy Family. Her writing has appeared on Bookforum, Newsweek, Glamour, Marie Claire, The Washington Post, Vibe, and Interview, among many other publications and literary collections. Time Magazine named her one of the most influential leaders of her generation for her acclaimed work on intergenerational feminism and multiracial identity. A recipient of the Alex Award from the American Library Association, she has been featured on Oprah and Good Morning America.

Links:

http://www.rebeccawalker.com

Presentation Title: The Good Word?: The Bible as Inspiring Ideal or Primitive Anachronism

SESSION 3 | 2:15-3:00pm | SULLIVAN Ct C6

Bio: The Senior Rabbi of Temple De Hirsch Sinai since July 2001, Daniel A. Weiner strives to make community at the synagogue a 'family of families'.

Born in Cincinnati and raised in San Francisco, Rabbi Weiner received a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was Commencement Speaker in 1986. He earned his Masters Degree from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1989. Ordained in 1991, Rabbi Weiner served as the Assistant/Associate Rabbi at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation from 1991-1996 and then as the Senior Rabbi of Temple Ohev Sholom in Harrisburg. He is the proud husband of Cynthia, and father of Julia and Benjamin.

Rabbi Weiner was a founder of Faith Forward, a cutting edge interfaith organization that highlighted and shared the inextricable bonds between progressive values and religious principles. He is a popular lecturer at Seattle University's school of Theology and Ministry. He teaches about the intersection of film and transcendent religious values through his "Spirit on the Screen" presentations.

Weiner has been lauded for his interfaith efforts on behalf of "Partners of Jews" and his leadership of the innovative and inspiring Rock Shabbat services. His columns have appeared in the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He is a frequent guest on Seattle and Denver radio and television in the Pacific Northwest.

Links:

http://www.goodgodforus.com

http://www.tdhs-nw.org

http://www.twitter.com/rocknrabbidanny

Presentation Title:  What to Remember When Waking: Shaping A Resilient Self Through Poetry

SESSION 1 | 9:00-9:45am | PIGOTT AUDITORIUM 104

Bio:  Poet David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father's Yorkshire. He now makes his home, with his family, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

The author of six books of poetry and three books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, the Amazon and the Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures andworkshops.

His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.

An Associate Fellow at Templeton College and Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many European, American and international companies. In spring of 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.

In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today's call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change particularly through his perspectives on Conversational Leadership.

Links: 

www.davidwhyte.com
 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Whyte/213407562018588 

Presentation Title: Exploring the Gap between Science and Religion

SESSION 2 | 1:00-1:45pm | SULLIVAN 105

Bio: Lee Wimberly is a first-time author with his book Exploring the Gap Between Science and Religion. Lee's interest in the relationship between science and religion grows out of the stark contrast between his Christian early education and an under-graduate degree in philosophy from Metropolitan State College in Denver Colorado. In July 2007, Lee retired from the Boeing Company to complete writing Exploring the Gap between Science and Religion. The first edition went to print in 2009. In 2009-2010, Lee added an index and added content that addressed a review from a microbiologist turned Lutheran Pastor. With a bold new cover, the second edition went to print in August of 2010.

Mr. Wimberly leads seminars and discussion groups on the topic of science and religion. Venues have included churches, Holden Village (a spiritual retreat center in the Cascade Mountains), and college courses. In addition, Mr. Wimberly seldom misses an opportunity for an informal discussion over a cup of coffee.

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/lee.w.wimberly

http://twitter.com/#!/LeeWimberly

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Exploring-Gap-between-Science-Religion-3974003?home=&gid=3974003&trk=anet_ug_hm

http://www.explorethegap.net  

Presentation Title:  Finding Prosperity in Today's Market through The Book of Job

Bio:  Pamela Ayo Yetunde is a resident pastoral counselor/psychotherapist in the Atlanta, GA area. Prior to entering into chaplaincy and counseling, she was a financial consultant for major Wall Street firms. She is the author of "Vigil: Spirituial Reflections on Your Money and Sanity", "The Inheritance: A Stock-Picking Story", and "Beyond 40 Acres and Another Pair of Shoes: For Smart Sisters Who Think Too Much and Do Too Little About Their Money."

Yetunde earned a certificate in chaplaincy from Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Mercy Center, a M.A. in Culture and Spirituality from the Sophia Center at Holy Names University and is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in pastoral counseling at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Links:

www.boundlesshearts.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/PamelaAyoYetunde

www.linkedin.com/pub/pamela-ayo-yetunde/10/280/677