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Two Lectures: Ellen Dissanayake and Jack Renard
April 15, 1999
MOCRA presents lectures by two distinguished scholars.
Ellen Dissanayake
鈥淚n the Beginning, Art鈥�
An innovative scholar makes a case for an innate human drive to 鈥渕ake special,鈥� drawing on evolutionary biology, anthropology and sociology.
is a scholar, lecturer, and author of three books, What Is Art For?, Homo Aestheticus (with translations into Chinese and Korean), and Art and Intimacy. Combining her interests in the arts and evolutionary biology, and using insights drawn from fifteen years of living and working in non-Western countries (Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, India, and Nigeria), she has developed a unique perspective that considers art to be a normal, natural, and necessary component of our evolved nature as humans. She has held Distinguished Visiting Professorships at Ball State University in Indiana, the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Western Australia. Additionally, she has taught at the National Arts School in Papua New Guinea, the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, Sarah Lawrence College, and the New School for Social Research in New York City. She lives in Seattle where she is Affiliate Professor in the School of Music at the University of Washington.
Jack Renard
鈥淲ords Alight: Islamic Calligraphy and the Art of Bernard Maisner鈥�
A prominent scholar of Islam and Islamic culture brings his expertise to bear on the resonances between Islamic calligraphy and the illuminated manuscripts and paintings of artist Bernard Maisner.
joined the 老司机福利网 Department of Theological Studies in 1978, after completing a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, in Harvard University's department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, focusing on religious literature in Arabic and Persian, and religious art and architecture. His research has centered on Islamic Humanities, with a specialization in the religious histories and literatures of major Middle Eastern cultures such as those of Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. He has concentrated particularly on medieval sources in Arabic and Persian related to the history of Sufism, Islamic mystical traditions, Islamic hagiography, and, most recently, comparative study of Islamic and Christian theologies.
Renard has taught a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate courses, including: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Religious Traditions of Asia; Islam: Religion and Culture; Islamic Art and Society; the religious arts of Hinduism and Buddhism; Comparative Theology; and Medieval Seminars on various topics within the greater Mediterranean world.
These lectures are presented In conjunction with the exhibition Bernard Maisner: Entrance to the Scriptorium, and are made possible by a grant from the .
above, from left:
Ellen Dissanayake and Jack Renard
Related programming
Bernard Maisner: 鈥淭he Art of the Illuminator鈥�
鈥淭he Hand Acts Out a Joyous Dance鈥�: Celebrating the Art of Bernard Maisner
Listen to an interview with Ellen Dissanayake in Episode 12: Ellen Dissanayake.
Watch Jack Renard in So That You Know Each Other: Intercultural Reflections on Art, Beauty, and Islam
| Exhibition | |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-07 to 2018-10-14 | 
Walking in Hope: A Weeklong Celebration of the Canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero |
| 2017-04-20 | 
鈥淭he Hand Acts Out a Joyous Dance鈥�: Celebrating the Art of Bernard Maisner |
| 2016-09-25 | 
Erika Diettes: 鈥淪tories Told from the Threshold鈥� |
| 2015-12-06 | 
So That You Know Each Other: Intercultural Reflections on Art, Beauty, and Islam |
| 2014-11-15 | 
John Handley: “The Religious Art of Pablo Picasso” |
| 2018-09-28 to 2018-09-29 | 
Fleur-de-Lis Floral Art Walk |
| 2014-02-23 | 
鈥淭he Economy of Gift鈥� in Socially Engaged Art Practices: A Public Deliberation |
| 2013-10-02 | 
Art21: The Spiritual Light screening at CAM |
| 2013-03-02 | 
Rituals and Spirituality in the Performative Photographic Work of Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons |
| 2012-11-11 | 
Breaking Boundaries: A Conversation about the Art of Patrick Graham |
| 2012-05-20 | 
Stephen P. Durchslag: 鈥淭he Jewish Experience and the Haggadah鈥� |
| 2012-03-27 |
2012 Loyola Chair Lecture: “The Image of the Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Consciousness” |
| 2011-10-06 |
2011 Loyola Chair Lecture: 鈥淭he Pursuit of the Spirit: The Renewed Interest in the Spiritual and Religious Dimensions in Contemporary Art鈥� |
| 2011-05-01 | 
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: 鈥淕eorges Rouault and the Art of Sacred Engagement鈥� |
| 2010-11-15 |
Terrence Demspey, S.J.: “Creating a Religious Environment through Contemporary Art and Architecture” |
| 2010-03-28 |
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: “The Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Conscience” |
| 2009-12-01 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2009-11-15 | 
Michael Byron: “Cosmic Tears: Word and Image” |
| 2009-03-29 | 
Art and the Religious Imagination |
| 2008-04-15 | 
Wu Hung: 鈥淲hat Is Contemporary Chinese Art?鈥� |
| 2007-10-07 | 
Celluloid Bible Classics: The Ten Commandments |
| 2007-11-04 | 
Celluloid Bible Classics: Ben-Hur |
| 2007-09-16 | 
Michael Morris, O.P.: 鈥淢oving Pictures: The Bible and Beyond鈥� |
| 2007-03-30 | 
Peter Frank: 鈥淎n Oskar Fischinger Tribute鈥� |
| 2006-12-01 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2005-12-04 | 
Robert Rosenblum: 鈥淒oDo Jin Ming: An Art Historian's View鈥� |
| 2003-09-07 | 
To Make Extraordinary: The Role of Sacred Objects in Life and Worship |
| 2002-05-04 | 
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A University Response |
| 2002-04-30 | 
Fred D. Gray: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: A Study That Should Never Have Occurred |
| 2002-01-31 | 
Cloudlanders |
| 2002-01-26 | 
Thomas Sokolowski: 鈥淭he Last Temptation: Andy Warhols Art as Belief鈥� |
| 2000-11-30 | 
Day With(out) Art |
| 2001-04-06 | 
Bare Naked Statues in concert |
| 1999-04-15 |
Two Lectures: Ellen Dissanayake and Jack Renard |
| 1999-03-27 | 
Bernard Maisner: 鈥淭he Art of the Illuminator鈥� |
| 1998-03-22 | 
Renaissance and Modern |
| 1997-11-15 | 
The Role of the Computer in Contemporary Art |
| 1997-07-24 | 
Jennifer Biddle: Body, Country, Canvas: Meaning and Identity in Central Desert Aboriginal Women鈥檚 Art |
| 1997-06-07 |
Creativity as Ancestral Mind: Living with the Ancestors |
| 1997-02-27 | 
The Artist and the Theologian Dialogue: The Body of Christ as Veiling and Unveiling the Invisible God |
| 1996-12-01 | 
Day Without Art |
| 1996-05-19 | 
The Artist as Poet: Readings by Edward Boccia |
| 1995-05-20 | 
Ian Friend: 鈥淭he Edge of Belief鈥� |
| 1995-05-04 | 
Peter Selz: 鈥淒egenerate Art鈥� |
| 1995-02-05 | 
Lynn Hague in recital |
| 1994-11-13 |
Terrence Dempsey, S.J.: 鈥淭he Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS鈥� |
| 1994-12-01 |
Day Without Art |
| 1994-11-05 |
Thomas Sokolowski: 鈥淭he Changing Face of AIDS鈥� |
| 1994-11-01 |
The Amici String Quartet in recital |
| 1994-10-15 | 
Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the TIme of AIDS dance program and opening reception |
| 1993-10-29 | 
I Remember Alvin |
| 1993-11-05 | 
An Evening with Katherine Dunham |
| 1992-11-07 | 
The Artist and Sacred Space |