Rabbi Michael Lerner to Present UMaine Schonberger Lecture
Contact: Media contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — The University of Maine’s annual Howard Schonberger Peace and Social Justice Memorial Lecture Series, scheduled this year for Thursday, Nov. 6, will feature a talk by Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder and editor of “Tikkun,” a progressive Jewish Magazine.
The lecture, named in memory of Schonberger, who was a UMaine professor of the history of U.S. foreign policy from 1971 until his death in 1991, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Room 100 of UMaine’s Donald P. Corbett Business Building. In that lecture, Lerner will discuss “Social Transformation and Psycho-Spiritual Healing: Strategies for Peace and Justice in the Era of George Bush and Ariel Sharon.” A reception will follow.
Earlier that day, at 12:30 p.m., Lerner will talk about “The Globalization of Spirit vs. the Globalization of Selfishness: Critical Contradictions of Advanced Capitalist Societies in the 21st Century,” as part of UMaine’s Socialist and Marxist Studies lecture series. The afternoon talk will take place in the Bangor Room of Memorial Union.
Rabbi Lerner often travels to Israel from his home and congregation in the San Francisco area. He holds Ph.D.s in philosophy (1972, University of California Berkeley) and clinical psychology (1977, Wright Institute). His recent books include “Spirit Matters” (2000), “The Politics of Meaning: Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism” (1996) and “A Path to Healing and Transformation” (1995). Together with Cornel West he wrote “Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America” (1995), and he edited “Best Contemporary Jewish Writing” (2001).
In addition to his work as a UMaine faculty member, Schonberger was a founder of PICA’s precursor, the Bangor Area Central America Solidarity Committee, and he was active in both the Peace and Justice Center in Bangor and the Maine Peace Action Committee on campus.
For more details contact Alexander Grab (581-1928) or Ann Schonberger (581-1229 or 942-4055).