• Chinmayi Sharma – Female Genital Mutilation: A Painful Paradox (Jack Wagner, discussant)
• Christy Tormey – Jewish and Catholic Relations Post Nostra Aetate (Kevin Chiou, discussant)
• Adam Attaar – Mormonism: A Troubled Past and Present (Tugce Capraz, discussant)
• Chris Choi – Globalization, Gender and the Taliban (Ashwin Sundar, discussant)
I attended the informational session on Female Genital Mutilation and thought it was presented very well. I had no previous knowledge on the subject and felt like I left with a good understanding of the issue and how it pertains to religion and various African nations. I thought that the proposal of how to help stop this issue as a western society was very well thought out. It was clear that a lot of thought was put into the cultural perspectives and differences.
Like Dre, I also attended the presentation on female genital mutilation. I was shocked to hear that something this horrific was a common practice in many places in Africa. The thoroughness of this presentation really impressed me, as did the attempts to relay the fact that although people of the USA may be aghast at this practice, it is an integral part of the lives of many young women in Africa
I thought this presentation was very well done. You included a lot of detail and I felt like I learned a lot. I was not aware of this tradition prior to attending your session, so it was helpful to have such an interesting presentation.
This was a very thorough and eloquent presentation. Chinmayi gracefully dealt with a very difficult subject and used the horrific practices of many African tribes to support her overall theme that we cannot expect to change the way that a society conducts itself without understanding their history and the basis of their practices.
I also attended the other three presentations during this session.
Christy Tormey’s presentation on Jewish and Catholic relations examined the persistent prejudices that can exist and create rifts between people of differing faiths. In an attempt to smooth Jewish and Catholic relations, the Nostra Aetate was issued. Overall, it sought to reconcile having Jesus Christ as the Savior and keeping Israel’s people by absolving Jewish people of any blame for Christ’s death.
I found Adam Attaar’s presentation of Mormonism to be well thought out and well presented. It examined how close the legal system can get to depriving people of the freedom to practice their religion; is it infringing upon free religious practice to outlaw polygamy? Adam felt that problems arise with polygamy when when the many wives (who are legally single mothers) commit welfare fraud and basically steal from the government.
Chris Choi presented on Globilaztion, Gender, and the Taliban, and his presentation was very comprehensive. Also, Chris responded well to the questions posed by his discussant after his presentation. Chris examined the oppression of women in the Taliban and concluded that it is a social phenomenon and is a misuse of religion.