Religion / Spirituality 15 results

In the 1960s and ’70s, a generation that was told not to trust anyone over 30 nevertheless adored Hoosier writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | Photo by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

Why Kurt Vonnegut’s Advice To College Graduates Still Matters Today

Susan Farrell

Kurt Vonnegut gave dozens of quirky commencement addresses in his lifetime. He made some preposterous claims, made people laugh, and made them think. They were speeches college graduates remembered, says Susan Farrell, an English professor and founding member of the international Kurt Vonnegut Society. Vonnegut’s advice, she says, still matters to graduates today. Click here to read why, and so on.

May 4, 2023

Not only does Virginia Githiri, Ph.D., hold four degrees and teach at Indiana University, she’s also a certified Wellness Coach, life strategist, motivational speaker, social media influencer, and the founder and owner of PopKorn Kernels with a Twist. | Photo by Shannon Livengood

Virginia Githiri, Ph.D., Entrepreneur, Wellness Coach, Life Strategist, and More

Shannon Livengood

Not only does Virginia Githiri, Ph.D., hold four degrees and teach at Indiana University, she’s also an entrepreneur, certified Wellness Coach, life strategist, motivational speaker, and social media influencer. She has also written, recorded, and produced gospel music. Shannon Livengood shows us even more in her profile of the founder of PopKorn Kernels with a Twist. Click here to read about Dr. Githiri.

February 22, 2023

Sponsorship

Alvin H. Rosenfeld is a professor of English and Jewish Studies; the Irving M. Glazer Chair, Jewish Studies; and the director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. | Photo by Gale Nichols

Times of Israel Podcast with IU Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld ‘Antisemitism is now a form of entertainment — and that’s new’

Amanda Borschel-Dan

Prof. Alvin H. Rosenfeld is the founder and director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University. On a recent trip to Jerusalem, he was interviewed on a podcast by Amanda Borschel-Dan, an IU alumna who is now deputy editor at The Times of Israel. Among other topics, they discussed how antisemitism is now “a form of entertainment.” Click here to hear the podcast and read the transcript.

January 27, 2023

Stirring the Pot: The Little Yoga Studio That Could

Ruthie Cohen

Limestone Post columnist Ruthie Cohen says Crystal Orly’s Ekah Yoga studio, pre-pandemic, was a community destination, with live music events, pot luck gatherings, a community garden, family nights, and kids’ activities. “Post-lockdown has been less rosy,” says Ruthie. But Ekah is hosting a Halloween-themed event to bring the community back. Click here to read Ruthie’s article.

October 11, 2022

“An accurate, basic understanding of America’s history and philosophy is absolutely critical to our continued ability to talk to each other, build community, and function as Americans,” writes Sheila Suess Kennedy, an Emerita Professor of Law and Public Policy at IUPUI. “When people don’t understand when government can properly impose rules and when it can’t, when they don’t understand the most basic premises of our legal system, our public discourse is impoverished and ultimately unproductive.” | Photo via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheila Kennedy: Civic Literacy ‘Critical’ to a Functioning Democracy

Sheila Suess Kennedy

Sheila Suess Kennedy, Emerita Professor of Law and Public Policy, says that when people don’t understand the most basic premises of our legal system, our public discourse is impoverished and ultimately unproductive. “Unfortunately,” she writes, “that civic knowledge is in very short supply.” Click here to read Professor Kennedy’s article on why civic literacy is critical to the American Idea.

June 30, 2022

Sponsorship

Angel Mounds Historic Site, along the Ohio River just east of Evansville, was a bustling town and trading hub for Native American people during the Mississippian Culture Period, prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 1930s, the remains of 700 individuals were excavated from the site and stored at Indiana University until March 2021, when they were repatriated. | Photo by Laura Martinez

Remains of Native Americans at Rest Again at Angel Mounds

Laura Martinez

Angel Mounds, outside of Evansville, was a bustling trading hub for Native American people prior to European colonization. Historian Laura Martinez writes about the recent repatriation of the remains of 700 individuals that were excavated from the site in the 1900s — and how, even at sacred places like Angel Mounds, the spiritual practices of Native Americans are still violated. Click here to read about Angel Mounds.

July 7, 2021

While the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana peaked nearly 100 years ago, its members’ support of Christian nationalism is reflected in various political, militia, and hate groups today. Writer Laurie D. Borman interviewed several experts who suggest the ideologies espoused by today’s far-right groups is a continuation of the country’s racist past. This photo is of a KKK cross burning in northern Indiana in 1922.

‘100% American’ Hate Groups, Christian Nationalism, and the Indiana KKK

Laurie D. Borman

While the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana peaked nearly 100 years ago, its members’ support of Christian nationalism is reflected in various political, militia, and hate groups today. Writer Laurie D. Borman interviewed several experts who suggest the ideologies espoused by today’s far-right groups are a continuation of the country's racist past. Click here to read the article.

March 10, 2021

Big Mike’s B-town: Zaineb Istrabadi, Baghdadi Hoosier

Michael G. Glab

Zaineb Istrabadi calls herself “a Baghdadi Hoosier.” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. He also calls her “a woman of the world” and a member of one of Bloomington’s most storied families. Click here to read the full story.

January 17, 2019

Sponsorship

William Morris, the attorney, radio DJ, and aspiring Episcopal deacon, says the foundation of all his work is teaching. Even on his radio show, "The Soul Kitchen," he says, "I'm teaching people different kinds of music." | Limestone Post

Big Mike’s B-town: William Morris, ‘Always Teaching’

Michael G. Glab

William Morris, the attorney, radio DJ, and aspiring Episcopal deacon, says the foundation of all his work is teaching. Even on his radio show, The Soul Kitchen, “I’m teaching people different kinds of music,” he says. Michael G. Glab writes about Morris’s rich and varied life in his column, Big Mike’s B-town. Click here to read the full story.

February 22, 2018

Dr. Maria Hamilton Abegunde is a scholar, an egungun (an ancestral priest in the Yoruba Orisa tradition), a healer, a poet, a teacher, and a birth and postpartum doula. | Courtesy photo

Big Mike’s B-town: Abegunde, Writing to Heal

Michael G. Glab

Dr. Maria Hamilton Abegunde has been given many names, each one representative of her own history, her family’s history, and her Yoruba cultural heritage. And, like her names, Abegunde’s work represents the personal and the historical. LP columnist Michael G. Glab talks with the poet and scholar about her work with healing and social justice. Click here to read the full story.

November 21, 2017

Standing Rock Protestors: ‘Water Is Life’

Laura Martinez

Protestors at Standing Rock in North Dakota have a simple message: “Mni Wiconi” — Water is life. Or as Laura Martinez, a Bloomington resident and citizen of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, writes, "Life cannot exist without water. We can survive without oil by investing in renewable energy, but we cannot sustain life without clean water." Click here to read the full story.

March 9, 2017

Newly arrived South Sudanese refugees carry their belongings at the Nyumanzi reception center in the northern district of Uganda, Adjumani. Since the first week of January 2016, Uganda has seen an influx of 4,587 refugees from the neighboring war torn country of South Sudan. | Photo courtesy © UNHCR/Isaac Kasamani

Finding Hope in South Sudan: Part 2 Persistent Violence, Unstable Peace

Will Reed

When fighting erupted last August in South Sudan, community-development workers Will and Theresa Reed had to evacuate. They returned to Bloomington to wait out the violence. Now, while the situation in South Sudan fluctuates between unstable and dangerous, the Reeds have returned to Africa, helping refugees in Uganda to find hope. Click here to read the full story.