Religious Studies major Robert Lisak has been awarded the SILLC Global Award. This very competitive award will help fund Rob's participation in the Arizona in Hangzhou: Chinese Culture and Buddhism Study Abroad program.

Rob says "My college path has taken me in several different directions and I am taking every opportunity presented to me.  My reason for study is to find commonality in humanity and to be an active agent to bridge the gaps that seem to exist between so many people. My study, and my work, is a passion for me, and I hope to continue to pave the road for a new cross-cultural understanding for anyone I meet."  

 The SILLC Global Award accepts applications at the beginning of every spring semester from students majoring in one or more of the following SILLC disciplines: Africana Studies, Classics, East Asian Studies, French and Francophone Studies, German Studies, Italian Studies, Religious Studies, and Russian and Slavic Studies.

College of Humanities double major Rob Lisak is featured as the UA Honors College student of the week. 

Lisak majors in Religious Studies and East Asian Studies and talked with the Honors College about his experiences studying abroad in Hangzhou.  

By Peter Reese, UA Honors College Information Specialist

While no objector to Starbuck's coffee, Rob Lisak would rather explore a more ancient tradition in which liquid refreshment is but one of the outcomes. The creator of a short video reflecting his fascination with the meaning-rich Chinese tea ceremony, Lisak has put himself on a steep learning curve as an Honors College student. Nearly two decades removed from the traditional high school-to-college progression, he is pushing himself back even further into time as well as academic rigor. A Religious Studies and East Asian Studies double major, Lisak has joined Professor Albert Welter and others around the University of Arizona's Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project.

Fueled by a three-year grant from The Khyentse Foundation, the project has two ambitious goals. "Hangzhou is a global mecca for Buddhism that hasn't been explored as fully as sites in India, Tibet and elsewhere in China," offered Lisak. "This is the China of which Marco Polo spoke." Now embedded in the team, he's offering creative implementation both of the scholarly research as well as teaching resources being produced from the ambitious imitative begun in 2018.

States Dr. Welter, "Rob's participation is instrumental to the development of the second outcome (in particular), the creation of new courses and components utilizing state of the art virtual and audio-visual enhancements that will transform the ways students engage the sources and materials relating to East Asian Buddhism." While The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism center on suffering, Lisak is present to make the path smoother and less painful for faculty, graduate research assistants and student peers. After twenty-five years of living the rock and roll life followed by a move from Chicago, Lisak is finding a new rhythm as part of the Honors College. One that puts his inspired energy into legacy-building outcomes.

"Every interaction I've had with the Honors College has been full of encouragement and concern for me as a student. I really get the sense that they care about their students in the Honors College getting the absolute best experience at the UA. Not only that, they seem proud of all their students' accomplishments. It feels like being on a team,"observes Lisak. When this astronomy minor's destiny moved from a potential scholarship in India to landing in China, he pursued a new course that included producing video training materials on his own time. While clearly not a quote from the scroll-borne texts at the center of the project, Lisak's personal philosophy about the Honors College is more timeless and universal than his five well-chosen words of colloquial English might suggest.

"You're here. Make it happen."

A thought worth contemplating. Over a cup of carefully prepared Chinese tea.

A $50,000 commitment from Dr. Ross Schwartzberg will establish a new scholarship for UA students majoring in Religious Studies for Health Professionals, as well as an annual lecture series focusing on health and religion.

Dr. Schwartzberg, who earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona and studied with longtime Religious Studies Professor Bob Burns as an undergraduate, established the endowment in honor of his parents, Fred and Barbara Borga. Schwartzberg will contribute $10,000 per year for five years to this endowment.

Half the funds will support student scholarships through the Fred and Barbara Borga Award for Majors in Religious Studies for Health Professionals. The other half will go to the Fred and Barbara Borga Health & Religion Lecture Series, scheduled to begin next year.

"The endowment for me is an opportunity to connect some key passions in my life: my love and admiration of my Dad and Mom, and my love of the University of Arizona. I hope that the endowment will provide some value for others as they inquire into the meanings of being, faith, truth, beauty and goodness," Dr. Schwartzberg said. "Inquiry into how the world works, history and the intersection of faith and reason, studying comparative religions, have been essential part of my life, and have strongly informed my practice of medicine," Dr. Schwartzberg said.

The Department of Religious Studies and Classics established the Religious Studies for Health Professionals track to provide students with the opportunity to study diverse cultures and religious traditions they will encounter in their professional lives. Double majors in Religious Studies and pre-health majors have reported that this dual training has made them more competitive when applying for graduate and professional schools, and has better equipped them as health professionals to engage with their clients as whole people.

"We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Schwartzberg's generosity and his vision in supporting programing bringing the study of religion into conversation with the study of medicine and health," said Religious Studies and Classics Department Head Karen Seat. "Students in our program study how humans have engaged with issues of life and death in various historical and cultural contexts, and develop an understanding of the historically complex political and economic relationships of religion and health care in the United States and around the world. Their studies will better prepare them to knowledgably engage with the challenges facing health care systems in the 21^st century."  

Dr. Schwartzberg's donation for the scholarship and lecture series comes at a time when health humanities programs are on the rise and health professions are incorporating more humanistic approaches, both in education and in practice. At the UA, Kristy Slominski is a newly hired Assistant Professor of Religion, Science, and Health and core faculty member for the Religious Studies for Health Professionals track.

"In addition to the critical thinking and communication skills gained from the humanities, our program explores how diverse religious traditions have shaped understandings and experiences of sickness, healing, and healthcare," Slominski said. "This is an important moment for Religious Studies to show how a careful study of religions can help the health professions to become more self-reflective and culturally sensitive, and I am excited that the University of Arizona is leading the way with its robust program of Religious Studies for Health Professionals."

Professor Simmons delivered a plenary address at The Dharma/Dhamma International Conference on Shaktatantra at Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies in Sanchi, India.

His address was titled "Navārṇa Mantra and Meaning: Bhāskararāya's Interpretation of a Śrīvidyā Mantra" and examined how the 18th-century Śrīvidyā scholar Bhāskararāya understood the relationship between mantra and meaning in his Guptavatī, a commentary on the Devī Māhātmya.

For more information on the conference, click here.

Professor Daisy Vargas has been selected to the 2019-2020 cohort of the Young Scholars in American Religion Program. The prestigious program aims to train and mentor the next generation of leading teachers and scholars in American religion. The program is supported by the Lilly Endowment and assists rising stars in the discipline in the improvement of their teaching and research, as well as in the development of professional communities.

Read more about the 2019-2020 cohort and the Young Scholars in American Religion Program here.

Congratulations to Professor Vargas on this spectacular achievement!

Professor Andrea McComb Sanchez was recently interviewed by Christopher Conover of Arizona Public Media for the show "The Buzz." Professor McComb Sanchez was interviewed as part of an episode that centers on the winter solstice. The interview will air on December 21 (the winter solstice) at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and then on 22nd at 3:30 pm.

Tune-in to "The Buzz" 89.1 FM/1550 AM on December 21 or 22 to learn more.

On November 13, 2018, Prof. Rae Dachille's Tibetan Buddhism class (RELI 358) was joined by several prominent Tibetan ascetics and researchers, including Venerable Ani Thukden Dema, a nun studying as part of Emory Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI); Rangdol Rinpoche, amonk studying as part of ETSI; Tsondue Samphel, a translator for ETSI; and Drupon Tinley Ningpo Rinpoche, a master from the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

Students were able to learn about developments in the conversation between Buddhism and Western science as well as to hear more about meditation and the lives of famous masters.