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An exploration of church and society produced by the United Lutheran Seminary with campuses in Gettysburg and Philadelphia, PA.
Episodes
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Top Stories in Religion for 2023
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Dr. William Avery, Professor Emeritus of Stewardship and Parish Ministry, shares his thoughts on three top issues from the previous year, 2023: The Hamas-Israel conflict, the exit of from church participation, and clergy burnout. He reminds us that that the Middle East conflict is not recent but has its roots from the biblical period. From his years of teaching and research, Avery suggests that the membership in our American congregations started to decline in the early 1960s. Avery indicates that the issue of clergy burnout has developed from lack of communication between the clergyperson and the congregation. While these issues are troubling, Avery leaves the conversation with words of hope.
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Travel in Conflict: Israeli/Palestinian conflict Perspective
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Pastor Richard Michael and his wife Bonnie McCourt talk about their most recent travel to the Holy Land which he was co-leader. This was his 11th tour. Both share the benefits of taking such a tour which included reading the scriptures through a new lens and changing one’s world view. Richard discusses his change from a total pro-Israeli perspective to one in which he has been open to hear and listen to the Palestinian vices. Both describe the plight of Palestinian workers and Palestinian families. Both Richard and Bonnie share the importance of listening with discernment to the reporting of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from the media. They include suggestions for listeners preparing to visit the Middle East. In addition, they share suggestions for those listeners who are not planning to travel there but would like a more informed perspective of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Friday Mar 11, 2022
A Pivot Point in History: The Situation in the Ukraine
Friday Mar 11, 2022
Friday Mar 11, 2022
Dr. Christianson speaks with Ambassador Lawrence Taylor who provides his assessment of the current war in the Ukraine. Ambassador Taylor emphasizes the need for an immediate pause in hostilities and expresses deep concern that there is no easy way back or no quick resolution to this conflict.
For reference you may also want to listen to some of our past episodes on the Ukraine.
- 10/14/2014: http://seminaryexplores.uls.edu/e/the-conflict-in-ukraine/
- 12/5/2019: http://seminaryexplores.uls.edu/e/why-is-ukraine-important/
Monday Apr 06, 2020
War is No Place for Children: A Soldier’s Story
Monday Apr 06, 2020
Monday Apr 06, 2020
Jason Hatch is a retired U.S. Army soldier who served for 20 years including in Iraq and later as a military attaché at embassies in sub-Saharan Africa, before retiring as a major in 2013. Jason shares his personal journey and how his experiences led him to advocate for those children who find themselves caught in the horror of war as victims and even as soldiers themselves. His recent work includes a drama called Rope Tension about two Civil War drummer boys, one Union and one Confederate, thrown together one night after a battle. Jason was the Artist in Residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park in early 2020.
Additional thanks to the Seminary Ridge Museum on historic Seminary Ridge in Gettysburg, PA.
Monday Mar 23, 2020
A Palestinian Woman Navigates the Borderland between Two Cultures
Monday Mar 23, 2020
Monday Mar 23, 2020
Haya Mohanna came to the United States from the Gaza Strip in Palestine to study at Gettysburg College. She was sponsored by LE.O (Leonard Education Organization) which supports nearly 60 qualified students in American universities. Even with this support, she experienced the difficulty of leaving occupied Gaza, and the frustration of not being able to visit her family whom she has not seen in seven years. She has flourished in America even while she continues to make adjustments as a Muslim woman to her new environment. She believes that this country is a beacon of hope that must come to terms with itself as a cultural mix where no religion, culture, or race can be privileged.
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
Why Is Ukraine Important?
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
Ukraine is more than a late-night punchline or a pawn in U.S. domestic politics. It is a country rich in resources and history. Dennis Carter, recently retired career foreign service officer after 38 years in the Department of State, including postings in Kuwait, Peru, France, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and Grenada takes deep into the the history and the importance of Ukraine on the world stage. Strategically, it abuts western Russia. Other nations have coveted its territory for centuries because it is the “breadbasket of Europe, has rich mineral resources, and lately, technology. In recent years Ukraine has had to resist Russian incursions, especially a take-over of Crimea and threats to the Donbass region.
Also listen to our 2014 interview with Ambassador Lawrence Taylor on the conflict in Ukraine.
Monday Aug 26, 2019
Faces of War
Monday Aug 26, 2019
Monday Aug 26, 2019
Fresh from a day of hanging large format portraits of Garmair Marines in the woods near the National Park Visitor Center, documentary photographer and film-maker Louie Palu took time for a chat with Katy Giebenhain and The Seminary Explores. Palu has navigated combat zones, mining shafts, Arctic terrain and many other sites and situations in his role as artist and photojournalist. For his mid-July to mid-August 2019 residency on the Gettysburg Battlefield he installed the portraits (taken in Afghanistan) and began new work in response to his experience in Gettysburg. Palu’s many awards include a Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Grant (2012) to cover the Mexican Drug War and a Milton Rogovin Fellowship at the Center for Creative Photography.
The Artist-in-Residence program is made possible by the Gettysburg Foundation and The National Park Arts Foundation, with support from the National Park Service
Monday Dec 17, 2018
Nicaragua: A Political Crisis on Our Doorstep
Monday Dec 17, 2018
Monday Dec 17, 2018
Gretchen Natter is the Executive Director of the Center for Public Service and Assistant Dean of College Life, Gettysburg College; and Communications Liaison, Project Gettysburg-Leon. In this podcast she describes the current political crisis in Nicaragua brought about by protests against President Daniel Ortega, the long-time leader of the Sandinista Movement that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship but is now using similar tactics to suppress opposition. The situation has directly affected the work of groups that encourage cultural interchange and assistance such as Project Gettysburg-Leon and others around the country.
Monday Oct 08, 2018
Coming to Terms with the Viet Nam War
Monday Oct 08, 2018
Monday Oct 08, 2018
On the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, Lt. Col. (ret.) Thomas Dombrowsky a Vietnam War combat veteran and Adjunct Professor, Gettysburg College, asks what we have learned: the trauma of veterans was not so much outright hostility as disinterest or silence; we should not blame the soldiers for bad policy; and, above all, we need to think beyond the end of hostilities so that winning the peace becomes as important as winning the war. On the positive side, he notes that two American presidents, Obama and Trump, have visited Viet Nam.
Sunday Jul 29, 2018
Iran: The Prospects for Peace with a Forbidden Country
Sunday Jul 29, 2018
Sunday Jul 29, 2018
A widely traveled, award-winning “ambassador” of peace, Rev. Sandra Mackie, Spiritual Director, Ruth House, and Recipient of the Lifetime Peacemaker Award, Interfaith Center for Peace and Justice, believes that fear is a significant factor in war, and that better understanding is a key ingredient for peace. She observes that Iran should not be lumped together with other Mid-East nations. Iranians are not Arabs, but Persians with a long and proud history. They want to be democratic and open to the West, but free and independent; and when threatened, they think it necessary to develop a nuclear program.