At the so-called weekly program, “Wednesday Forum”, on Wednesday, 22 September 2010, Dr. G.M. Speelman, a lecturer and researcher of Religious Studies and Islamic Studies at the Protestant Theological University (PThU), the Netherlands, was coming to CRCS as the speaker of the discussion. The theme brought was “Men and Women in Inter–religious Dialogue “.

Approximately at 13.00 the discussion was opened by moderator Leonard C. Epaphras, SSi, MTh, an ICRS doctoral student, after previously begun with a lunch session. Through her presentation, Speelman explained that the theme she brought was based on a research which was conducted in her country, concerning the relation between men and women  in the interreligious dialogue. The result of this research is planned to be published in an international journal. And through this forum, a few points from the research would be discussed before presented on a journal.

Dear CRCS and ICRS students, faculty and guests, We kindly invite you to participate in the CRCS and ICRS Wednesday Forum of this week. Wednesday forum will have Dr. M. Valliammal Baskaran (Associate Professor, Department of History, Lady Doak College, Madurai Tamilnadu, India) as the speaker who will talk about “Inter-religious Relations in Ancient Tamilnadu.” Some information about this forum can be read as follows.

Date: Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Time: 12.30 pm – 2.30 pm (free lunch)
Venue: Room 306, UGM Graduate School Teknika Utara, Pogung
Speaker: Dr. M. Valliammal Baskaran

Dear CRCS and ICRS students, faculty and guests, We kindly invite you to participate in the CRCS and ICRS Wednesday Forum of this week. Wednesday forum will have M.William Baskaran (Professor and Head, Department of Gandhian Thought and Peace Science) as the speaker who will talk about “Relevance of Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century.” Some information about this forum can be read as follows.

Date: Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Time: 12.30 pm – 2.30 pm (free lunch)
Venue: Room 306, UGM Graduate School Teknika Utara, Pogung
Speaker: M.William Baskaran

On April 28, 2010, the speaker of the weekly ICRS-CRCS Wednesday Forum was Dr. M. Valliammal Baskaran who spoke on “the Inter Religious Relations in Ancient Tamilnadu.” While Maufur, the ICRS academic coordinator, acted as moderator.

Before proceeding to the meat of her presentation, Dr. Baskaran showed first the map of India to locate where Tamilnadu is to the audience. According to her, during the Sangam Age (300 B.C. to 300 AD), there were three major types of religions that existed which were the: Vedic religion; Indigenous faiths; and Shramanic religions – refer to Jainism, Buddhism, Ajivaka etc. She said that during that time these three major types of religions co-existed until the end of the Sangam Age.

The theme of the CRCS-ICRS Wednesday Forum held on March 24, 2010 was “Sanctification or Subordination? Traditional Jewish Marriage and Alternatives within Rabbinic Literature”? presented by Melanie Landau from the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University. Dr. Siti Syamsiyatun acted as moderator. The forum cum videoconference was conducted at the Conference Room at the Faculty of Law, UGM.

Ms. Landau discussed the traditional elements of Jewish marriage, two legal authorities or modification to Jewish marriage and the new interpretation to traditional marriage; she also included the aspect of the acquisition of the woman by the man, as elaborated in ancient and medieval rabbinic texts.