The 2023 Silber-Obrecht Lecture
What is the State and the Future of Interreligious and Interfaith Studies?
The inaugural Silber-Obrecht Lecture, held April 25–27, 2023, at Loyola University Maryland, featured Francis X. Clooney, S.J., a Harvard Divinity School theologian, and Shubha Pathak, Ph.D., of American University. Clooney reflected on the state and future of interreligious and interfaith studies, drawing on his Catholic faith and decades of Hindu-Christian scholarship.
Across two lectures, he explored how deep study of another religious tradition can illuminate one’s own, including through 9th-century Tamil Hindu poetry from South India. The program modeled the Silber-Obrecht Lecture’s purpose: advancing creative, rigorous scholarship that deepens interreligious understanding and conversation across traditions.
Lecture 1
What is the state of the emerging field of interreligious and interfaith studies?
Harvard Divinity School professor and Jesuit priest Francis X. Clooney, S.J. reflects in this first lecture on the intersection of his own Catholic faith with his decades-long study of Hinduism.
Harvard Divinity School professor and Jesuit priest Francis X. Clooney, S.J. reflects in this first lecture on the intersection of his own Catholic faith with his decades-long study of Hinduism.
Lecture 2
What is the future of the field?
In Lecture 2, Part 1, Francis X. Clooney, S.J. explores a particular expression of the divine as reflected in translations of 9th century Tamil Hindu poetry from the south of India.
In Lecture 2, Part 1, Francis X. Clooney, S.J. explores a particular expression of the divine as reflected in translations of 9th century Tamil Hindu poetry from the south of India.
Response
Respondent: Shubha Pathak, Ph.D,, Ph.D.
Dr. Pathak offers her response to Fr. Clooney based on her interpretation of epic myths from Greece, India, and Rome.
Dr. Pathak offers her response to Fr. Clooney based on her interpretation of epic myths from Greece, India, and Rome.
Event Photos
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