How do some groups draw on mythic narratives of a "Golden Age" to orient conduct in new & confusing situations? Why do both secular & religious movements tend to use their understandings of the future to guide actions in the present? Speakers will offer 10-15 minute "TED-style" talks to spur discussion.

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Confirmed guests are:
-- Ahmed al-Rahim (UVA): medieval Islamic history & philosophy

-- Michael Herzfeld (Harvard): historic preservation & memory in Italy & Greece

-- Nitzan Lebovic (Lehigh): Modern Jewish Thought & Cultural Theory

-- Shunsuke Nozawa (Dartmouth): Linguistic Anthropology & Japanese Culture

-- Jason Phillips (West Virginia): Civil War History

-- Katherine Allen Smith (Univ. of Puget Sound): medieval European History & the Crusades

Sponsored by Dept. of Religion and Culture, CLAHS Diversity Committee, the Depts. of History, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, and English, the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, and the School of Visual Arts.
More information...

Location:	Graduate Life Center, Mtg Rm F
Price:	free
Sponsor:	Dept. of Religion and Culture, CLAHS Diversity Committee
Contact:	Prof. Aaron Ansell aansell@vt.edu (540) 231-6551
copy this event into your personal desktop calendar