Our topic discussion of Wednesday Forum this week is “Jewish Resistance to Conversion in Fourteenth Century Spain”, that will be articulated by the speaker, Kristine T. Utterback, Ph. D. We invite you to join this forum. Some information about the forum can be read as follows.

Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Time: 12.30 pm

Our topic discussion of Wednesday Forum this week is “Jewish Resistance to Conversion in Fourteenth Century Spain”, that will be articulated by the speaker, Kristine T. Utterback, Ph. D. We invite you to join this forum. Some information about the forum can be read as follows.

Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Time: 12.30 pm ? 2.30 pm (free lunch)
Venue: Room 306, UGM Graduate School Teknika Utara Pogung
Speaker: Kristine T. Utterback, Ph. D

Abstract:

Jews, Christians and Muslims co-existed more or less amicably on the Iberian Peninsula, in what is now Spain, from about the eighth to the thirteenth century, a situation often called convivencia (living together). By the middle of the thirteenth century, however, convivencia was breaking down, and Jews came under increasing pressure to convert to Christianity: in 1391 a pogrom throughout Spain fatally weakened the Jewish communities there; in 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, whose marriage united the two largest kingdoms of the peninsula into Spain, required Jews to convert to Christianity or leave the newly unified country.

Wednesday Forum this week will have an interesting theme “Can a New ‘Islamic State’ Succeed?”. Our speaker in this forum is Salem Ghandour. We invite you to join this forum. Some information about the forum can be read as follows.

Date: Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Time: 12.30 pm

Interfaith dialogue in Indonesia has been experiencing developments since its rise in 1960?s. In its developments the dialogue can be categorized in three categories based on the actors: government, civil community organization and academe. This argument was articulated by CRCS research team when they researched on ideas and practices of interfaith dialogue in Indonesia. They presented their research findings in Wednesday Forum, April 5, 2009.

Interfaith dialogue in Indonesia was initiated by Mukti Ali, the Minister of Religious Affairs, in 1969. This was motivated for building dialogue in national and international level in the 1960s. In Indonesia, there was an initiative to build dialogue which was only a response to local conflicts which involved religious communities after 1965. It started from this background that emerged dialogues that had been institutionalized by the government, civil community organizations and the academe.

Wednesday Forum this week will have an interesting theme “Can a New ‘Islamic State’ Succeed?”. Our speaker in this forum is Salem Ghandour. We invite you to join this forum. Some information about the forum can be read as follows.

Date: Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Time: 12.30 pm ? 2.30 pm (free lunch)
Venue: Room 306, UGM Graduate School Teknika Utara Pogung
Speaker: Salem Ghandour

Abstract:

Can a new ?Islamic State? succeed? To tackle this question, one has to look at what the traditional Islamic State was and why it worked so well for so many centuries until it ultimately collapsed. Only then can one understand why the idea is so popular today. Most importantly, one should be able to identify the major challenges that will face the new Islamic State.

During the April 08, 2009 Wednesday Forum, Dr. Elaine Kay Swartzentruber emphasized the importance of post-colonial criticism in reading the holy or religious texts. Some religious texts, especially the Holy Bible which is influenced by colonial power, have to be read carefully to make the readers or Christians not trapped in colonial perspectives which are not relevant nowadays.

Swartzentruber explained that there are many perspectives in understanding post-colonial theory since its emergence 25 years ago. By citing R.S. Sugihartarja