March 1, 2006

Faith and life sciences public forums at VCU to explore violence; death and dying

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By Anne Buckley

Violence and why it’s used to solve problems will be the topic of the next Virginia Commonwealth University Life Sciences and Religion Community Forum of Central Virginia.

“The new year in Richmond was fraught with several high-profile homicides, and news reports are replete with story after story of violence every day,” said J. Brian Cassel, Ph.D., of the VCU Massey Cancer Center and the forum’s coordinator. “While many may see science and religions as being intractably at odds with each other, we believe that there is much to gain by having science and religion work together, in this case to help us to understand our violent nature.”

The forum, "Why Are We Violent?" takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, in the Richmond Salons of the VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave. The event is free and open to the public, and a complimentary vegetarian buffet will be available prior to the forum.

The forum is the third in a series of four the group presents annually to offer the community the opportunity to hear an exchange of ideas about science and faith. The first two were held during the fall semester.

The final forum, “Death and Dying” is a two-day event that will be held on VCU’s MCV Campus and the campus of Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education, on April 6 and 7. Panelists will explore the moral opportunities patients, families, doctors and clergy have at the end of life. How does allowing natural death at the end of a long and progressive illness versus choosing end-of-life medical treatments reflect what we feel is important in life? Is death the enemy?“

Speakers for the March 9 event on violence include:

  • Aleta Meyer, Ph.D., from the VCU Department of Psychology, and a member of the recently designated Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention.
  • Sarah Jane Brubaker, Ph.D., from VCU’s Department of Sociology, and director of a newly created resource center at VCU for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.
  • The Rev. William Wells, chaplain of St, Catherine's school in Richmond.
  • The Rev. Benjamin Campbell, director of Richmond Hill, a spiritual retreat center in Richmond

For more information on Life Sciences and Religion, visit http://www.vcu.edu/faithscienceforum/.