Past Lectures

Since its first lecture in 1985, the Burke Lectureship has sponsored or co-sponsored over sixty lectures on religion and society.

2010 - present

Ursula King - The Evolution of Religion, Society and Consciousness: Reflections inspired by Teilhard de Chardin

Professor Emerita and senior Research Fellow, University of Bristol
November 13, 2012
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Tariq Ramadan - Interpreting Islam in Modern Context

Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies
April 16, 2012
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Peter C. Phan - "World Christianity": Its Implications for History, Religious Studies, and Theology

Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University
October 13, 2011
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Francisco J. Ayala - Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion

Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Professor of Philosophy, (School of Humanities), and Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of Science at UC Irvine
April 7, 2011
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Amira Hass - The Israeli Policy of Separate Development

Author and Columnist for Ha'aretz
November 15, 2010
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Elizabeth A. Johnson - An Ecological Inquiry - Jesus and the Cosmos

Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University
May 13, 2010
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Dwight Hopkins - China Rising: Religious and Ethical Core Values in the 21st Century

Professor of Theology at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago
January 21, 2010

2000 - 2009

Scott Appleby - What Can Muslims and Catholics Teach Each Other?

Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, and the John M. Regan Jr. Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
October 22, 2009

Ronald C. White - Abraham Lincoln's Journey of Faith

Professor Emeritus of American Religious History at San Francisco Theological Seminiary, Visiting Professor of History at UCLA and Fellow of the Huntington Library
April 30, 2009
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David Tracy - "Masks of Self: Theological and Tragic"

Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies and Professor of Theology and the Philosophy of Religion in the Divinity School; University of Chicago
February 2009

Khaled Abou El Fadl - "Islamic Law and the Challenge of Islamophobia"

Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Professor of Law at UCLA Law School, UCLA
May 2008
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Lewis R. Lancaster - "Buddhism in a Global Age of Technology"

Professor Emeritus, East Asian Languages and Cultures
Former D.H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, UC Berkeley
April 2008
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Rosemary Radford Ruether - "American Empire and the War Against Evil"

Carpenter Professor of Feminist Theology Emerita
Pacific School of Religion and Graduate Theological Union
February 2008
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Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza - "The Power of the Word: Scripture and the Rhetoric of Empire"

Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity, Harvard University
February 2007
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Rabbi Michael Lerner - "Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right: The Politics and Theology of Spiritual Progressives"

Editor, Tikkun Magazine, and Author
November 2006
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John Haught - "Evolution and Divine Providence: Are they Really Compatible"

Distinguished Research Professor of Theology at Georgetown University
February 2006

Diana Eck - "Pluralism and the Ethics of Dialogue"

Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Director of Pluralism Project, Harvard University
October 2005

Wendy Doniger - "You Can't Get Here from There: The Logical Paradox of Creation Myths"

Mircea Eliade Professor of Religion at the University of Chicago
February 2005
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John Shelby Spong - "The Terrible Texts of the Bible"

Bishop Emeritus of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark
November 2004
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Stanley Martin Hauerwas - "Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Truth and Politics"

Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Divinity School of Duke University
February 2004
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Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki - "Looking Beyond the Mirror: The Intracultural Dialogue between Religion and Film"

Claremont School of Theology, Director of the Whitehead International Film Festival
November 2003
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Athol Fugard - "A Catholic Antigone: Hildegard of Bingen"

South African Playwright, Actor and Director
February 2003
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Sohail Humayun Hashmi - "September 11 and the Tradition of Jihad"

Alumnae Foundation Associate Professor and Chair of the International Relations Program at Mount Holyoke College
January 2003

Ronald Cole-Turner - "The Genetic Revolution and Designer Babies: Moral and Religious Implications"

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
November 2002
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Samuel Ruiz Garcia - "The Pursuit of Justice from the Perspective of the Poor"

Retired Bishop of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
October 2002
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Margaret Miles - "Short Beds and Narrow Sheets: Religion and the Common Good"

Dillenberger Professor of Historical Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley
April 2002
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Abdul Raheem Yaseer - "Afghanistan, Islam, and Recent Events: An Afghan Muslim Educator's Perspective"

Center for Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska
January 2002
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Marcus Borg - "Religious Pluralism: Seeing Religion Again"

Hundere Professor of Religion and Culture, Oregon State University
January 2002

David Noel Freedman - "Religious Pluralism: Seeing Religion Again"

Professor of History and Endowed Chairin Hebrew Biblical Studies, UC San Diego
October 2001

John P. Meier - "Jesus the Jew: But What Sort of Jew?"

Author of A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Professor, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame
October 2001
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Amy-Jill Levine - "Reassessing Jewish-Christian Relations: Scripture, Polemic, and Salvation"

Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
April 2001
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John T. Noonan - "The Dog and The Fish: Lord John Acton and John Cardinal Newman"

Author and Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
November 2000

Thomas J. Reese, SJ - "The Politics of Papal Elections: How Will The Next Pope Be Selected?"

Editor in chief of AMERICA, a Jesuit weekly magazine
Spring 2000

1990 - 1999

Avery Cardinal Dulles - "Christ, The Church and Social Order"

McGinley Professor of Religion and Society, Fordham University
Fall 1999

James Carroll - "The Cross at Auschwitz"

Writer, winner of the National Book Award for An American Requiem
Winter 1999
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Joan Chittister, OSB - "Ecology, Theology and Feminism: In Conjunction or in Conflict"

Benedictine author and lecturer
Spring 1998

Robert Bellah - "Max Weber and World-denying Love: A Look at the Sociology of Religion"

University of California, Berkeley
Fall 1997

Tu Wei-ming - "Confucian Spirituality: The Idea of Immanent Transcendence"

Confucian Humanist and Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy at Harvard University
Spring 1997
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Alice B. Hayes - "The Growth of a Leaf and a Life"

President, University of San Diego
Fall 1996

Elliot N. Dorf - "Balancing Self Defense with the Need for Peace"

Rector, University of Judaism Los Angeles
May 18, 1995

Thomas Stransky, CSP - "The Crisis of Religion in the Holy Land"

Director, Tantur Institute for Ecumenical Research Jerusalem
April 27, 1995

Seyyed Hossein Nasr - "Islam and the Dialogue Between the Abrahamic Faiths"

University Professor of Islamic Studies George Washington University
May 4, 1995

Michael Himes - "A Theological Foundation for an Environmental Ethic"

Professor of Theology, Boston College
February 17, 1994

Richard Louv - "Children at Risk: Voice of Hope"

Jounalist
A Symposium co-chaired by Teresa and Neil Coopes
October 23, 1993

Ines M. Talamantez - "Apache Female Initiation: The Practice of a Native American Religious Tradition"

Associate Professor of Theology, UC Santa Barbara
April 22, 1993

Richard A. McCormick, SJ - "Bioethics: What to Look For in the 90s"

Professor of Christian Ethics, University of Notre Dame
April 30, 1992

Gertrud Mueller-Nelson - "The Healing Journey of the Feminine"

Author, Lecturer
February 20, 1992

Daniel J. Sullivan - "Putting God on Stage: From Aeschylus to Woody Allen"

Journalist and Theater Critic
April 25, 1991

Hans Küng - "No Peace Among Nations Without Peace Among the Religions"

Director, Tubingen, Institute of Ecumenical Research Tubingen, Germany
March 15, 1991

Martin E. Marty - "The Fundamentalist Across the Globe, Down the Block or In the Heart"

Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor University of Chicago
October 29, 1990

Elizabeth A. Johnson - "Women in the Image of God, God in the Image of Women"

Professor of Theology, Catholic University of America
May 2, 1990

Ted Peters - "Discerning the Spirit of the New Age"

Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary, UC Berkeley
February 15, 1990

1985 - 1989

James Cone - "Martin and Malcolm: A Dream or a Nightmare"

Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology Union Theological Seminary
October 19, 1989

Elie Weisel - "A World at Peace" cosponsored

Mellon Professor of Humanities, 1986 Nobel Peace Laureate, Boston University
February 21, 1989

Charles Curran - "Economic Justice for All"

Visiting Brooks Professor of Theology, University of Southern California
October 13, 1988

Daniel Berrigan, SJ - "Disarming the Heart, Disarming the World"

Poet, Peace and Justice Advocate
October 20, 1988

Karen Lebacqz - "Jubilee Justice"

Professor of Christian Ethics, Pacific School of Religion, UC Berkeley
October 6, 1988

Raymond E. Brown - "The Star, the Magi and the Wicked Herod: Matthew's Gospel Story of Jesus' Birth"

Auburn Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies, Union Theological Seminary, New York
November 23, 1987

Abigail McCarthy - "From the 30s to the 80s: The Education of a Twentieth Century Woman"

Author, Journalist
April 29, 1987

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin - "The Church in the Third Millennium: Age Old Values and New Challenges"

Archbishop, Diocese of Chicago
October 28, 1986

Robert McAfee Brown - "Religion and the Role of Dissent"

Professor Emeritus, Pacific School of Religion
May 1, 1986

J. Robert Nelson - "Human Life as a Criterion of Science"

Director, Institute of Religion Texas Medical Center
November 7, 1985

Theodore Hesburgh - "The Nuclear Threat to Humanity"

President, University of Notre Dame
April 3, 1985