Endowed Lectures
The Department of Religion has been endowed with two funds, the Abbie Ziffren Fund and the David and Sherry Berz Fund, that support annual lecture events. Past speakers have covered wide-ranging and current topics including Muslim life in America in the wake of Donald Trump’s election, religious views on life on other planets, Jewish and Christian views on the biblical commandment to love one’s neighbor, Christian Nationalism, and much more!
Upcoming Lectures
Berz Lecture:
October 8, 2024
Amanda Tyler will present,
"Christian Nationalism & the Threat to Democracy and Faith"
Lecture from 5:30-6:30PM
Light Refreshments 5-5:30PM
Uni Student Center, 3rd Floor
"Amanda Tyler is executive director of BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty), leading the organization as it upholds the historic Baptist principle of religious liberty: defending the free exercise and protecting against its establishment by government. The author of How to End Christian Nationalism (October 2024), Tyler is also the co-host of BJC's Respecting Religion podcast. Tyler's constitutional law analysis and advocacy for faith freedom for all have been featured by major news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, CBS News, ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC, and she has testified before Congress on religious liberty and Christian nationalism. A graduate of Georgetown University and The University of Texas School of Law, she lives in Dallas with her husband and son."
Abbie Ziffren Annual Lecture
Abbie Ziffren was a professor in the Religion Department in the 1980s and 1990s, and she was a committed Jew as well as a devoted activist in progressive social causes. The annual lecture is named in her honor.
Past Ziffren Lectures
- 2023: Ruth Ozeki
- 2022: Rebecca Todd Peters
- 2021: Eman Quotah
- Fall 2019: Jill Hicks-Keeton and Cavan Concannon
- Spring 2019: Shai Held
- 2018: Elizabeth Bucar
- 2017: Thupten Jinpa
- 2016: Film screening, Rosenwald
- 2015: Amy Eilberg and Aziz Abu Sarah
David and Sherry Berz Lecture
The David and Sherry Berz Endowed Lecture is made possible by a gift from David Berz, BA ’70, JD ’73, and Sherry Berz, BA ’72, MA ’73
Past Berz Lectures
- 2024: Amanda Tyler
- 2024: William Waldron
- 2022: Eman Quotah
- 2021: Dan Wildcat
- 2020: Shankar Nair
- 2019: Ken Knoespel
- 2018: Ayaz Virji
- 2017: David and Sherry Berz graciously allowed the Religion Department to use the endowment for the annual lectureship in their name to support a one-day conference on the subject of religion and environment.
- 2016: Conference, “Sunnis and Shi’ites in Historical Perspective: Differences and Commonalities”
- 2015: Panel event co-sponsored with the GW Confucius Institute, “Religion in Contemporary China”
GW Faculty gather for conviviality dinner with Professor William Waldron (3rd from left) and his partner Ananda Tamang (1st on the left) after his Berz Lecture, "Shaping Our Collective Worlds: Lessons from Yogacara Buddhism" (Spring 2024).