Confronting Mortality: Faith and Meaning across Cultures
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Presented By
Video of the full event is available on the Nour Foundation's YouTube channel.
This event is part of the Rethinking Mortality series.
Despite advances in technology and medicine, death itself remains an immutable certainty. Indeed, the acceptance and understanding of our mortality is one of the enduring metaphysical challenges that have confronted human beings from the beginning of time. How have we sought to cope with the inevitability of our mortality? How do various cultural and social representations of mortality shape and influence the way in which we understand and approach death? To what extent do personal beliefs and convictions about the meaning of life or the notion of an “afterlife” impact how we perceive and experience the process of death and dying? Psychologist Lani Leary, professor of philosophy and religion Jeff Kripal, and sociologist Allan Kellehear come together to share a multicultural perspective on death, dying, and what lies beyond.
*Reception to follow.
Featuring
Allan Kellehear, PhD
Professor of Community Health, School of Health and Education, Middlesex University
Author of A Social History of Dying
Jeffrey J. Kripal, PhD
J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University
Associate Director of the Center for Theory and Research, Esalen Institute
Lani Leary, PhD
Psychotherapist
Author of No One Has to Die Alone — Preparing for a Meaningful Death
Moderator
Steve Paulson
Executive Producer, Wisconsin Public Radio's nationally-syndicated program To the Best of Our Knowledge
Registration Pricing — Individual Lecture Prices
| Member (including students) | $5 |
| Nonmember | $15 |
| Nonmember (Student / Postdoc / Resident / Fellow) | $7 |
Presented by
Media Sponsor
This event is part of The Rethinking Mortality Series
Moderated by Steve Paulson, Executive Producer of Wisconsin Public Radio's To the Best of Our Knowledge, this four-part lecture series brings together leading experts from various fields to discuss how the latest research is challenging our understanding of the very nature of mortality.
To learn more about each lecture and to purchase tickets, click on the links below.
• Reversing Death: The Miracle of Modern Medicine, October 9, 2013
• Prolonging Life: Legal, Ethical, and Social Dilemmas, November 12, 2013
• Experiencing Death: An Insider's Perspective, December 11, 2013
• Confronting Mortality: Faith and Meaning across Cultures, February 5, 2014
Speakers
Featuring
Allan Kellehear, PhD, AcSS
Professor of Community Health, School of Health and Education, Middlesex University
Author of A Social History of Dying
Allan Kellehear, PhD, AcSS, is Professor of Community Health at Middlesex University in London, UK. He was formerly Professor of Sociology at the University of Bath in England (2006-2011); Professor of Palliative Care at La Trobe University in Australia (1998-2006); and Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo in Japan (2003-04). He is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. His principle works explore the experience of dying or its care, and include: The Inner Life of the Dying Person (In press, Columbia University Press); A Social History of Dying (Cambridge University Press 2007); Compassionate Cities: Public health and end of life care (Routledge 2005); Health Promoting Palliative Care (Oxford University Press 1999); Experiences Near Death: Beyond medicine and religion (Oxford University Press 1996); and Dying of Cancer: The final year of life (Harwood Academic 1990).
Jeffrey J. Kripal, PhD
J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University
Associate Director of the Center for Theory and Research, Esalen Institute
Jeffrey J. Kripal is the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he chaired the Department of Religious Studies for nine years and helped create the GEM Program, a doctoral concentration in the study of Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism that is the largest program of its kind in the world. Jeff is the author of seven books, including Comparing Religions: Coming to Terms (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal (Chicago, 2011), and Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred (Chicago, 2010). He specializes in the comparative study and analysis of extreme religious states from the ancient world to today. His full body of work can be seen at http://kripal.rice.edu.
Lani Leary, PhD
Psychotherapist
Author of No One Has to Die Alone — Preparing for a Meaningful Death
Lani Leary, PhD specializes in work with chronically ill, dying, and bereaved clients. She has worked for more than 25 years as a psychotherapist in private practice, as a chaplain in the intensive care unit of a hospital, and as a counselor in 8 hospices across the country. She served as the director of mental health services at an AIDS clinic, as a professor of Death Studies at George Mason University, and as a researcher at the National Cancer Institute of NIH. Dr. Leary is the author of Healing Hands, an internationally best-selling audio tape about therapeutic touch and complimentary approaches to pain management. She is certified in grief therapy, EMDR, hypnotherapy, and Critical Incident Stress Management. Her latest book, No One Has To Die Alone: Preparing for a Meaningful Death (2012) was recently selected as a finalist for the prestigious Books for a Better Life Award. She writes a column, "Healing Tears" for LifeNet Health Services and "No One Has To Be Alone" on the Psychology Today webpage.
Moderator
Steve Paulson
Executive Producer, Wisconsin Public Radio's nationally-syndicated program To the Best of Our Knowledge.
Steve Paulson is the executive producer and an interviewer with To the Best of Our Knowledge, the Peabody Award-winning radio program produced at Wisconsin Public Radio and syndicated nationally by Public Radio International. Paulson has written for Salon, Slate, Huffington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Independent and other publications. His radio reports have also been broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His recent book, "Atoms and Eden: Conversations on Religion and Science," was published by Oxford University Press.
Travel & Lodging
Our Location
The New York Academy of Sciences
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich Street, 40th floor
New York, NY 10007-2157
212.298.8600
Hotels Near 7 World Trade Center
Recommended partner hotel
Club Quarters, World Trade Center
140 Washington Street
New York, NY 10006
Phone: 212.577.1133
The New York Academy of Sciences is a member of the Club Quarters network, which offers significant savings on hotel reservations to member organizations. Located opposite Memorial Plaza on the south side of the World Trade Center, Club Quarters, World Trade Center is just a short walk to the Academy.
Use Club Quarters Reservation Password NYAS to reserve your discounted accommodations online.
Other nearby hotels
212.945.0100 | |
212.693.2001 | |
212.385.4900 | |
212.269.6400 | |
212.742.0003 | |
212.232.7700 | |
212.747.1500 | |
212.344.0800 |