SANTIAGO SLABODSKY TO JOIN FACULTY
IN NEW ETHICS POSITION

Santiago Slabodsky, a leading-edge ethicist, activist and teacher, is joining the faculty at Claremont School of Theology.  He begins his appointment in Fall 2010 as an assistant professor in the emerging field of Ethics of Globalization.

“Santiago Slabodsky brings unique perspectives on the roles of global ethics that will challenge how we think about our shared work in the world,” says Academic Dean Susan Nelson. “His scholarship will no doubt impact our students in our various fields of study and practice.”

Currently on faculty at St. Thomas More College at University of Saskatchewan, Slabodsky is an Argentinean trained in rabbinical and liberationist philosophies.  His teaching and research focus on global ethics, social suffering, racial theories, post-colonialism and Jewish studies.  He also has experience as a religious leader and social activist in Latin America.

Having received theological education at a rabbinical school in Argentina, Slabodsky served for three years as head of Beit-Israel, a working-class congregation in Buenos Aires.  He directed educational programs in Jewish studies and combined his religious convictions with social action by creating a Christian-Muslim-Jewish network in the city.

“My teaching and activist experience forms the basis of my educational philosophy, which adheres to both liberationist thought and traditional rabbinical teachings,” he says.  “While Paulo Freire encourages overcoming hierarchical education and the authoritative relationship between teachers and students, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi praises the teacher’s learning from her own students as the ultimate learning experience.”­­

Slabodsky holds degrees from University of Buenos Aires, the Rabbinical Seminary of Latin America, Duke University and the Ph.D. from the Centers for the Study of Religion and Jewish Studies at University of Toronto. He has taught courses at University of Toronto, Duke University, Baylor University, and University of Buenos Aires, as well as led Jewish religious education in Hebrew Bible, rabbinics, and modern Jewish thought. He also has given invited lectures and presented his work in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America.

Read more about Prof. Santiago on his Faculty Web page.

# # #

For more information, please contact Claudia Pearce at cpearce@cst.edu or (909) 447-2546.

High Resolution Photo

Claremont School of Theology Featured on “The Economic Report”

Claremont School of Theology is being featured on a  syndicated news magazine that regularly appears on news channels such as CNN Headline News, Fox Business News and other cable outlets.  The show is hosted by Greg Gumble.  The program airs a different times in local markets across the nation.

Watch the entire segment below.

Community members gathered on Wednesday at Claremont School of Theology’s Kresge Chapel for a Veterans Day service. Asif Balbale, a CST student and Muslim chaplain-candidate in the Navy, recited the names of those who lost their lives in the Fort Hood attack last week. and urged attendees to count their blessings and reflect on sacrifices made by the nation’s veterans.

The chapel service was covered by local media, which praised the service for its efforts at building bridges between the faiths.

Read the full story online at http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_13766421?IADID

In an entry titled “This is Our America,” he says, in part:

This is our America, a society we share, divided along deep faults of difference and disparity.  As a “Methodist-American,” I do not fear for my safety after a fellow Methodist commits a heinous crime.  The denominational affiliation of such person most certainly may not be mentioned in news reports (unless he or she were an ordained elder or deacon).  And the churches of my tradition have no need to renounce the deeds of an outlier when one of our own goes astray.  As a Methodist-American, these are not my realities.  But for Muslim communities, this is their America.

Visit the blog to read his remarks in their entirety and leave a comment.

Claremont professors Frank Rogers and Andy Dreitcer were invited by current Ph.D. student Mazvita Machinga to lead a national 3-day workshop on healing and reconciliation.

The group will blog their trip at http://www.triptykos.com.

Mazvita Machinga is founding director of the Pastoral Care and Counseling Services Centre of Mutare, Zimbabwe and began the Ph.D. program in Practical Theology this fall, with an emphasis in Spiritual Care and Counseling.  She invited professors Frank Rogers and Andy Dreitcer, co-directors of a new organization called Triptykos, to design and conduct the workshop.  The team will be joined by Triptykos co-director Mark Yaconelli.

Tthe team will  lead a workshop for over 100 multidenominational church leaders (including pastors, Bishops, and others), village leaders, victims of violence, and representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office of National Healing and Reconciliation. The workshop, organized by the Mutare Pastoral Care and Counseling Center, with support from Triptykos, the Claremont School of Theology, and the Fetzer Institute, is entitled Creating a Path to Healing: The Church’s Role and Its Promise for the Country. It is being held in Mutare, Zimbabwe, November 3-5.

Presentations by Machinga and Rogers and small group facilitation by Dreitcer and Yaconelli will offer approaches to social healing that embody empowered forgiveness, restorative justice, and liberative compassion. The goal of the workshop is to create processes for healing and reconciliation that church and civic leaders can implement in their local communities and that can inform the government as it develops a national strategy for healing and reconciliation. A follow-up conference is planned for the Summer of 2010. In that follow-up meeting, the original conference participants will share with one another their successes and challenges in adapting the healing and reconciliation processes for their own settings.