Summer Salon: Religion and Politics in MinnesotaAugust 5, 2010 at 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Kate Knutson (Political Science) sends along the following invitation:
Fellow scholars, researchers, and people who like to talk about smart stuff even if you don't know a lot about it:
Please join Jackie Schwerm and me, Kate Knutson (as well as perennial hostess Brandy Russell) for a Summer Salon. Refreshments will be served.
The Summer Salons offer an opportunity to share some of the valuable research going on this summer in a format that will give everyone an opportunity to participate. These salons were inspired by the Italian and French traditions of gathering in a comfortable, amiable setting to share (and sometimes debate!) our ideas on a given topic. No quizzes, no minimum knowledge requirements, just an open and inquisitive mind.
Each salon will be hosted by a student/faculty pair or team. Participants in our Summer Salons will be encouraged to indulge in a wee bit of light, guided research on the topic in order to introduce and help frame the subject. Those attending event will explore that subject in an unstructured and free-flowing conversation. Opinions, questions, experimental thinking and devil's advocacy are not only welcome but essential to a lively and engaging interaction"all steeped, of course, in an attitude of open sharing rather than cutthroat competition.
The topic Thursday will be "Interfaith Advocacy: Religion and Politics in Minnesota. e Jackie and Kate are writing a history of Minnesota's Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, an interfaith advocacy group active in Minnesota politics, comprised of Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. We ask that participants read a brief article from TheNation about the Religious Left and peruse the website of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition. Links are provided below. Of course, everyone is welcome to bring their own perspective (or lack thereof!) on this topic. We will share a bit about the research we've gathered and see where the conversation takes us.
Here are the links:
1. "Religious Revival on the Left eby Michael Ferber in The Nation, July 6-13, 1985. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=106&sid=c901a62e-1843-4606-9c14-a03da66f3521%40sessionmgr104
(If this link does not work, you can find the article easily in Academic Search Premier searching by title or email me at Knutson@gustavus.edu and I will send you a PDF of the article)
2. The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition. http://www.jrlc.org/. You may want to pay special attention to the "Issues elink to read about their positions on various policy iss