We are honored to announce that Dr. Aaron Rosen will offer the Fourth Annual Keynote Lecture on Wednesday, October 23 for The Foglio Speaker Series on Spirituality.
“Spirituality and Art in the 21st Century by Dr. Aaron Rosen”
Time: Wednesday, October 23, 4:30-6 PM
Register in Advance: https://tinyurl.com/aaronrosen2024
Abstract: It’s time to set aside old assumptions about the antagonism between art and religion and look again with fresh eyes. Artists today are reframing how we think about religion and spirituality and driving new approaches to urgent ethical issues including climate change and racial justice. In this lecture, Dr. Aaron Rosen draws upon his work as a scholar of art and religion as well as his curatorial experience as founder of a contemporary gallery exploring the nexus of ecology, spirituality, and creativity. Dr. Rosen will introduce audiences to new ways of understanding established artists as well as exciting developments by emerging artists, who are boldly embracing ritual, contemplative practice, and spiritual subject matter in ways that previous generations often left implicit.
Dr. Rosen’s talk is graciously co-sponsored by the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts & Humanities (IAH), the College of Arts & Letters, the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, the Department of Religious Studies, the MSU Broad Art Museum, and the Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel
Bio: Aaron Rosen, PhD is a writer, curator, and non-profit leader, respected internationally for his work in the public humanities, interfaith dialogue, and the arts. He is Executive Director of The Clemente Course in the Humanities, a national non-profit delivering transformative, free college courses to underserved communities.
Dr. Rosen is also Visiting Professor of Sacred Traditions & the Arts at King’s College London, where he taught previously. He served as Professor of Religion & Visual Culture and Director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary and began his career as a fellow at Yale, Oxford, and Columbia Universities. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge. He has lectured widely around the world, and held various honorary posts, including visiting professor at University College Utrecht, The Netherlands and visiting fellow at the Woolf Institute in Cambridge.
His research has been supported by numerous scholarships, awards, and grants, including the Templeton Religion Trust.
Dr. Rosen has curated dozens of exhibitions around the world and founded and directs the not-for-profit Parsonage Gallery in Maine, exploring issues of ecology and spirituality through contemporary art. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including What Would Jesus See?, Art and Religion in the 21st Century, and the children’s book Journey through Art, translated into seven languages. He is currently working on books entitled The Jew in the Parsonage and The Hospitality of Images: Modern Art & Interfaith Dialogue. Rosen has provided commentary for various publications and outlets, including the BBC, PBS, CNN.com and The Guardian, and is the visual arts editor for Image Journal.