Tag Archives: January Series

Lecturers, on matters religious and secular, visit Calvin’s 2020 January Series

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The annual January Series concert will be by the 5 Browns, on Jan. 16. The 5 Browns — Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae — all attended New York’s Juilliard School. (Supplied)

WKTV Staff
ken@wktv.org

The January Series, according to the series’ Calvin University website, “cultivates deep thought and conversations about important issues of the day in order to inspire cultural renewal and make us better global citizens in God’s world.”

It is also a safe space to engage in religious thought and debate on topics originating from America and around the globe. Including a discussion on creation vs. evolution, and reports on religious freedoms in China, the Middle East, as well as here at home in America.

This year from Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, through Tuesday, Jan. 28, the free-admission, 15-day annual lecture series will be held on the campus of Calvin University, and is also available via closed-circuit broadcast at more than 60 remote sites — in more than 50 cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe — or online for live audio streaming.

According to the university, the 2020 edition of the January Series features New York Times best-selling authors, Billboard-topping musicians, and a 41-year veteran of the White House press corps, and it includes issues ranging from poverty and hunger, the global water crisis, immigration, mass incarceration, to big data’s inequality and threat to democracy.

Najla Kassab’s lecture, “The Reformed Church in the Middle East: Hopes and Challenges”, will be Jan. 28. (Supplied)

Among the religious-themed lecturers, discussion titles and dates are: Todd Charles Wood and Darrel R. Falk, “Moving Beyond Label to a Christian Dialogue about Creation and Evolution”, Jan. 9; Bob (Xiqiu) Fu, “When Caesar Demands to be God: Religious Freedom in China”, Jan. 17; Karen Gonzalez, “The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to belong, Jan. 27; and Najla Kassab, “The Reformed Church in the Middle East: Hopes and Challenges”, Jan. 28.

Notable names, religious openness

A few of the more notable names in the lineup include Ann Compton, a television reporter who covered seven presidents; Mitch Albom, an author, columnist, radio host, and philanthropist whose books have sold over 39 million copies and been translated into more than 45 languages; and Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at NYU whose last two books were New York Times best-sellers.

Jonathan Haidt’s lecture, “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are setting up a Generation for Failure”, will be Jan. 13. Albom’s lecture, on Jan. 21, will be “A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family. Compton’s lecture, on Jan. 22, will be “Up Close and Very Personal: My 41 years in the Whit House Press Corps”.

“Gaining knowledge is the first step to making a difference,” Kristi Potter, the director of the January Series. “If we don’t know about these topics, then we don’t know how we can actually make a difference.”

Potter says this work starts with listening, even to those with whom we may disagree, such as evolution.

“We have the opportunity to hear from two respected scientists who hold opposing viewpoints on the topic of origins,” she said. “One is a six-day creationist, the other a theistic evolutionist, and both feel strongly about their views. Both actually feel the other person’s view is harming the church. … And yet, the two have learned to talk to rather than past one another, using respectful dialogue with the understanding that they are both Christians.”

While Potter says the series will dig deep into some of the complex issues facing the world today, it will also highlight the great progress being made in some of these areas. One talk will be Johan Norberg’s, “Progress: 10 Reasons to Look Forward to the Future”, on Thursday, Jan. 24.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, positive things are happening,” she said.

Cathy O’Neil’s lecture, “Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequity and Threatens Democracy”, will be Jan.14. (Supplied)

Among the other lecturers, discussion titles and dates are: Longtime Calvin volleyball coach Amber Warners, “The Fierce Humility of Winning”, Jan. 8; Sandra Postel, “The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity, Jan. 10; Cathy O’Neil, “Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequity and Threatens Democracy”, Jan.14; Deborah and James Fallows, “Our Towns: A 100,000 mile Journey into the Heart of America”, Jan. 15; Alice Marie Johnson, “After Life: My Journey From Incarceration to Freedom”, Jan. 20; and Jeremy Everett, “Solving America’s Hunger Crisis”, Jan. 23.

The concert by the 5 Browns will be Jan. 16. The 5 Browns — Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae — all attended New York’s Juilliard School. In fact, they became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously. The piano playing quintet have released three CDs that each went to #1 on Billboard Magazine’s Classical Album Chart. The New York Post has proclaimed: “One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years.”

The series runs from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Covenant Fine Arts Center on Calvin’s campus. No tickets required for the day or one evening events (but they do fill up quickly, so do not be late).

For more information about the January Series visit calvin.edu/january.

 

Barbara Bush replacing sister in Calvin College’s 2019 January Series lineup

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Barbara Pierce Bush (photo supplied)

By Matthew Kucinski, Calvin College

Due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict with NBC, Jenna Bush Hager is no longer able to fulfill her commitment to speak at Calvin College’s 2019 January Series. Her twin sister, Barbara Pierce Bush, has graciously agreed to fill her spot on Thursday, Jan. 10.

Barbara is the co-founder of Global Health Corps and co-author of Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life, which takes readers on an extraordinary and deeply personal journey behind the scenes of what it is like to be born into a political dynasty, revealing never-before-told stories about the Bush family, and uncovering the enduring sisterly bond that kept them sane through it all.

The January Series runs from 12:30-1:30pm EST Monday through Friday in the Covenant Fine Arts Center on Calvin’s campus. And, the series is also available in more than 50 cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. In 2018, nearly 80,000 people enjoyed the series live between on-campus, remote sites, and audio livestream. Go here for more information.

Calvin’s January Series features historian, trekkers, religious sojourner

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Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray will share their story of trekking and service to other as part of the Calvin College January Series.. (Supplied)

By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Godwin may be the most well-known name on the program for Calvin College’s January Series, the annual series of speakers and discussions on topics great and intimate.

 

Doris Kearns Goodwin

But some lesser-known speakers — such as Eugene Cho,  Lisa Sharon Harper, and the joint lecture by Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray — may well provide inspiration and challenge as much as information.

 

“I think Eugene Cho is great to have on the series,” Kristi Potter, director of the January Series, said in supplied material. “So often we talk about how we can make a difference, but are we actually doing it? … Cho will hold us accountable to take those steps to make a difference. In his book, he asks questions like ‘Are we in love with the idea of changing the world or actually changing the world?’ and ‘Do we just write a check or do we change our lifestyle to help change the world?’”

 

The January Series runs noontime January 4-24 and includes 15 speakers discussing topics ranging from systemic racism in America, the gender gap in technology, healthcare delivery and the cycle of poverty. Cho’s talk will be Jan. 18.

People with stories to tell

 

Cho is the founder and pastor of Quest Church, an urban, multicultural, multigenerational church in Seattle known for tackling societal issues head-on. Harper is an social advocate and, quite literally, a Sojourner. Skeesuck and Gray are friends who share a bond of adventure and service to other.

 

Skeesuck and Gray have shared a lifelong friendship, full of many adventures, including their 500-mile trek across Spain. But their story is much more than simply friendly adventuring. Skeesuck has a progressive neuromuscular disease and travels with a wheelchair. Together, the pair trekked the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, and detailed their adventures in the film and educational project “I’ll Push You”.

 

The pair, according to supplied information, live by the mantra that “Life is not defined by its limitations, it is defined by what is accomplished in spite of those limitations.” Their talk will be Jan. 12.

 

Lisa Sharon Harper

Harper, who will talk Jan. 16, works with Sojourners, a group started in the 1970s in Washington, D.C., that has grown and transformed to now have the goal to “inspire hope and build a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.” Harper’s faith-rooted approach to advocacy and organizing has activated people across the U.S. and around the world to address structural and political injustice as an outward demonstration of their personal faith.

 

Other speakers include Gary Haugen, CEO and founder of International Justice Mission; Mark Desmond, co-founder of the Justice and Poverty Project and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant”; violinist Taylor Davis, whose passion for gaming and film music has made her one of the fastest rising stars in the digital world with 1 million subscribers on her YouTube channel; and N.T. Wright, a world-renowned New Testament Scholar, who is back on the January Series stage for the fifth time.

 

 

Wright’s talk is also the Stob Lecture, an annual lecture co-sponsored by Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary in honor of philosophy professor emeritus Dr. Henry J. Stob. Wright will also be a featured speaker at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s Symposium on Worship in late January.

 

 

The January Series runs from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, various days, in the Covenant Fine Arts Center on Calvin’s campus. Parts of the series will also via live video in 50 cities in the United States, Canada and Europe. In 2016, 45,000 people attended between the on-campus and remote sites, according to supplied material.

For more information visit calvin.edu/january-series/