Keynote Address, Saturday, 10:15-11:00 am
Kodo, Room 201
"Meditations on Loving-kindness"
Abstract
In an age of inflammatory rhetoric, political anger, and growing tribalism, one may ask, “Whither kindness and human decency?” Measures in contemporary American society attempt to address the need to cultivate the impulse to look beyond oneself: compassion cultivation programs, “pay-it-forward” organizations, and kindness initiatives in schools. But what are the limits of these secular initiatives and how can a religious studies perspective enhance these efforts? Exploring the deep structures of kindness, specifically from the Buddhist perspective of loving-kindness, coupled with a critical understanding of our social environment may provide a path forward in enacting a more sustained environment in which social justice and compassion may thrive.
In an age of inflammatory rhetoric, political anger, and growing tribalism, one may ask, “Whither kindness and human decency?” Measures in contemporary American society attempt to address the need to cultivate the impulse to look beyond oneself: compassion cultivation programs, “pay-it-forward” organizations, and kindness initiatives in schools. But what are the limits of these secular initiatives and how can a religious studies perspective enhance these efforts? Exploring the deep structures of kindness, specifically from the Buddhist perspective of loving-kindness, coupled with a critical understanding of our social environment may provide a path forward in enacting a more sustained environment in which social justice and compassion may thrive.
Speaker Bio
Jane Naomi Iwamura is Chair and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of the West. Dr. Iwamura's research focuses on Asian American religions, race and popular culture in the United States (with an emphasis on visual culture). Her publications include Virtual Orientalism: Religion and Popular Culture in the U.S. (Oxford 2011) and the co-edited volume, Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America (Routledge 2003). She has also written on Japanese American lived religions, as well as on the intersection of religion and Asian American literary production. Dr. Iwamura currently serves as a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) Committee on Theological Education and is a respondent on the AAR College-Wide Literacy Project. She is also an advisor to the Pacific Asian North American and Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM). She co-founded the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI)--a national scholarly network advancing the interdisciplinary study of Asian Pacific Americans and their religions. Dr. Iwamura has received numerous awards for her teaching and mentoring, including the UWest Outstanding Faculty Member Award in 2013 and 2016.
Jane Naomi Iwamura is Chair and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of the West. Dr. Iwamura's research focuses on Asian American religions, race and popular culture in the United States (with an emphasis on visual culture). Her publications include Virtual Orientalism: Religion and Popular Culture in the U.S. (Oxford 2011) and the co-edited volume, Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America (Routledge 2003). She has also written on Japanese American lived religions, as well as on the intersection of religion and Asian American literary production. Dr. Iwamura currently serves as a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) Committee on Theological Education and is a respondent on the AAR College-Wide Literacy Project. She is also an advisor to the Pacific Asian North American and Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM). She co-founded the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI)--a national scholarly network advancing the interdisciplinary study of Asian Pacific Americans and their religions. Dr. Iwamura has received numerous awards for her teaching and mentoring, including the UWest Outstanding Faculty Member Award in 2013 and 2016.
