Center for Religion & Civic Culture

In last weekend's New York Times, science writer Nicholas Wade argued that new discoveries in archeology and evolutionary biology might allow us to bridge the gap between religion and science. But if religion is a function of biology—only the stuff of alleles and nucleotides—does that eliminate the possibility that it could also be a reflection of something supernatural, or even divine? Brie Loskota, managing director of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, guest blogs on the topic at Trans/Missions, the website for the Knight Chair in Media and Religion.

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The unprecedented movement of people in our globalized world has also revitalized many forms of religious expression. This year’s CRCC seminar, "Transnational Charisma and Traveling Spirits: How Religion Moves across a Global Landscape" focuses on experiential or charismatic religion and its relation to migration, transnational commerce, and trans-local politics in both contemporary and historical contexts. The mobility of people and spirits transforms notions of landscape, place and belonging, as well as the relation of religion to international markets, and humanitarian concerns with social welfare, human rights and health. The new seminar is organized by Janet Hoskins, CRCC Academic Advisory Council member and professor of anthropology, and Macarena Gomez Barris, assistant professor of sociology and American studies and ethnicity. The seminar is presented in collaboration with The College Commons, a “series of provocative conversations that bring faculty and students together to explore the world of ideas.” As in past CRCC seminars, the conversations will include presentations of works in progress to promote scholarship and stimulate interdisciplinary discussions. The next seminar will take place on November 10, 2009 and will include presentations on Asian Religions from a Transnational Perspective.

“Our concern is that many of the gospels being preached today are designed for the ear, not the human condition,” Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray told the Los Angeles Times. “Our goal is to share our knowledge and experience to help the next generation of African American church leaders confront today’s challenges.” CRCC’s Passing the Mantle (PTM) Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute seeks to empower African American clergy and lay leaders to expand their vision for community development and social engagement projects. The program is currently in its fourth year and is made possibly by grants from The James Irvine Foundation. In addition to an L.A. Times article in June, PTM was featured on the PBS program "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" on August 21, 2009. Watch the broadcast.

Slab City, an informal community built on the remains of a Marine base near the Salton Sea, is the location for a new project led by Matt Gainer. Gainer, research associate and director of the USC Digital Library, will use documentary photography and oral histories to examine how community is maintained in Slab City, a site that has no official status as place, no state supported infrastructure and no private property. The project, which is made possible by a grant from the California Council for the Humanities, will explore the impulses that lead people to live “off the map,” and the methods they use to create a sense of place, value and community once they settle. The Center has received several grants for documentary photography and video from the California Council for the Humanities. Grants have supported “Politics of the Spirit: Portraits of Faith and Community in Los Angeles” with Jerry Berndt, and “Traces of Identity: The Armenian Community in Los Angeles,” with Ara Oshagan. CCH has also supported projects on L.A.’s Ethiopian community, a film by Janet Hoskins on Caodaism in Orange County. See videos from these projects at http://crcc.usc.edu/blog/videos.