Past Heyns Lectures
Madame Gandhi
Kiran Gandhi MST ’22, an activist on climate and gender-empowerment whose stage name is Madame Gandhi, returned to Stanford to share her compelling message of empowerment and action.
On January 30, Madame Gandhi, who holds a masters in music science and technology from Stanford, delivered the 2023 Roger W. Heyns Lecture in Religion and Society. Her presentation included a talk and question-and-answer session moderated by Dean Tiffany Steinwert followed by a powerful musical performance that had the audience on their feet.
On Tuesday, Jan. 31, she led 30-minute guided meditation for the campus community in the morning light of Memorial Church. Later that day, she participated in a d.school discussion, “Climate Futures: Another Run Around the Sun."
Rev. Yolanda M. Norton, Visiting Scholar/Professor at Moravian Theological Seminary & Founder/Executive Director of the Global & Theology Experience
This year's Roger W. Heyns Lecture in historic Memorial Church features Rev. Yolanda M. Norton, Visiting Scholar/Professor at Moravian Theological Seminary as well as the founder/executive director of the Global and Theology Experience, a new nonprofit that provides positive identity formation programming for Black girls and women.
Perspectives on Anti-Asian American Racism, Faith and Identity
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the rise of the existing issue of anti-Asian/Asian American racism in the United States. As we witness America’s reckoning with racism in our society, this forum is intended to be a thought-provoking and educational discussion on the intersection of faith and Asian American activism in our own communities and at the national level. The panelists will discuss the role of faith communities in navigating issues of racial inequality.
Panelists: David Kaleo Woo, Spiritual Care Provider at Homeboy Industries & Buddhist seminarian; Najeeba Syeed, Associate Professor, Muslim and Interreligious Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary & Director of the Center for Global Peacebuilding; Sunny Kang, Senior Pastor of United University Church – Hope on Union, Los Angeles, Religious Director & Advisor to Progressive Christians at USC
Moderator: Laura Mariko Cheifetz, Assistant Dean of Admissions, Vocation, and Stewardship, Vanderbilt University
Three Faiths, Four Strangers and a Daring Escape
Mohammed AL Samawi, author of The Fox Hunt; Megan Hallahan, Executive Director of the African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL); and Justin Hefter, founder and CEO of Bandura Games
Spirituality and the Nones
Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Lancaster University, UK) and Casper ter Kuile, Master of Public Policy and Divinity candidate, Harvard University
Looking for Grace
Anna Deavere-Smith, Actress and playwright
Acts of Faith: Interfaith Leadership in a Time of Religious Crisis
Dr. Eboo Patel, Interfaith Youth Core
The Heart of Nonviolence
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
America’s New Religious Landscape: Negotiating Identities, Negotiating Differences
Prof. Diana Eck, Harvard University