Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 16, 2001

Volume 29, Number 22

New fund will support activities
for teachers of religious studies

The challenges and opportunities for teachers of religious studies will be explored in panel discussions and informal gatherings that will draw together students, faculty members and recent alumni of the University who work in the field.

Titled "Teaching Religious Studies: Diverse Perspectives," the event will take place on Sunday, March 25. It is made possible by a new fund established in memory of Kenneth Gerber, a graduate student who died tragically in 1999. Gerber's family and friends started the memorial fund to support greater interaction among graduate students across fields in religious studies. A committee chaired by Steven Fraade, the Mark Taper Professor of the History of Judaism and professor of religious studies, is planning the programs that will be supported by the fund this year.

"Teaching Religious Studies: Diverse Perspectives" will feature two panel discussions, one dealing generally with the place of religious studies within the liberal arts curriculum and the other geared more specifically to the practical challenges of teaching religious studies at Yale. The panels will draw together graduate students, undergraduates majoring in religious studies, faculty members and alumni.

Fraade, who notes that the critical study of religious traditions, literature and institutions is a new discipline, says the event will explore the unique challenges and opportunities in teaching religious studies.

The panel discussions will be combined with informal opportunities for socializing and talk, including a dinner. "Our hope is that this format will highlight two aspects of Ken Gerber's contribution to the religious studies department: bringing together students of diverse fields and self-conscious commitment to excellence in teaching," says Fraade.

"Teaching Religious Studies: Diverse Perspectives" will take place 2-7 p.m. in Rm. 211 of the Hall of Graduate Studies. The event is free and open to the public.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Economist will develop better way to measure economic activity in U.S.

Yale SOM to establish database for study of world's financial history

F&ES to create industrial ecology program in Asia

Greene and Brisman awarded DeVane Medals

Professor Lane explains the economics of happiness

Scientist Thomas Steitz honored with Sterling Professorship

Goldman-Rakic is Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology

Joan Steitz cited as outstanding woman scientist

Student actors 'take flight' in comic version of 'The Birds'

Exhibition examines photographers' contrasting images of Saarinen designs

'Faces of Hope' offers portraits of people living with HIV

Model urges students to take pride in their bodies

'Cities and Buildings' pays tribute to urban works . . .

Forum to explore fate of U.S. 'melting pot'

Discovery boosts understanding of hereditary blindness

Grants will support Yale researcher's study on how to quell the 'voices' . . .

Women under 60 more likely to die after heart attack, says study

Renowned nuclear physicist to discuss 'Science, Technology and Politics'

'A Taste of Inequality' explores issues still on feminist frontline

Love songs will be dramatized in workshops

New fund will support activities for teachers of religious studies

New ways of funding environmental enterprises to be examined

Film series focus on the banned and Brazilian

Innovation is focus of this year's Spring Teaching Forum

Annual Pride Week celebration will feature talks, comedy night and film

Campus Notes