A Conversation with Kathleen Norris
A Poet and Essayist, Norris is author of Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Cloister Walk, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith and Th
e Virgin of Bennington. Exploring the spiritual life, Norris’ work is at once intimate and historical, rich in poetry and meditatio
ns, brimming with exasperation and reverence, deeply grounded in both nature and spirit, sometimes funny, and often provocative.
In 1986, Norris became an oblate, associate, of a B
enedictine monastery, Assumption Abbey in North Dakota, and spent two years in residence at the Ec
umenical Institute at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Her book, The Cloister Walk, is structured as a diary of her monastic experience. Norris' most recent book, Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life, is a study of acedia, the ancient word for the spiritual side of sloth. She examines the topic in light of theology, psychology, monastic spirituality and her own experience.
Wednesday, March 24, 7 pm, Crill Auditorium
A Conversation with Michael Eric Dyson
A Sociologist and Theologian from Georgetown University, Dyson's newest book April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Death and How it Changed America, joins his others: Can You Hear Me Now? , Come Hell or Highwater: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster , Holler if You Hear Me.
Dyson, who studies American culture and how it pertains to African Americans, uses the terms "Afristocracy" and "Ghettocracy" to describe a bifurcation in American black society. He is also a leading scholar on hip-hop music and the culture surrounding it, as well as its roots in African and African-American cultures and its influence on American popular culture. Speaking from a strongly liberal viewpoint, Dyson feels that the social factors that influence lower-income black Americans to have such high rates of crime, teen pregnancy and divorce cannot be overlooked when addressing these issues from a national stance.
Thursday, March 25, 7 pm, Crill Auditorium
A Conversation with Bill McKibben
Environmentalist, author of Deep Economy, The End of Nature, Hope: Human & Wild, and The Age of Missing Information. In 1989, 
McKibben was one of the first to speak out about the threat of climate change and global warming. An American environmentalist and writer, Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign, and organized the October 2009 350 International Day of Climate Action, with thousands of events held at iconic places around the world. He frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. McKibben is active in the Methodist Church, and his writing sometimes has a spiritual bent.
Friday, March 26, 7 pm, Crill Auditorium
A Panel Presentation with Bill McKibben and Emmanuel Katongole
Katongole, a Theologian and Co-Director of the Center of Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School, is author of A Future for Africa: Critical Essays in Christian Social Imagination, Beyond Universal Reason, and African Theology Today. A Roman Catholic priest from Uganda, he offers a redeeming concept of how to live in a world marked by AIDS, civil war, genocide and other destructive conflicts. As co-director of the Duke Divinity School Center of Reconciliation, he is working on programs and designing initiatives that will help to form, nurture and support transformative leadership for reconciliation teaching, research and partnerships with communities and ministries all over the world.
Saturday, March 27, 10:30 am, Ellipse Chapel
Dean Nelson, Director of Journalism and Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, Point Loma Nazarene University
Interviews are conducted by Dean Nelson who has written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and dozens of national magazines. Author of 14 books, his latest, God Hides in Plain Sight--How to See the Sacred in a Chaotic World, was released to great acclaim in September 2009. Go to Dean's blog for more information: http://deannelson.net/
Prophetic Imagination Conference to Run Concurrently
If you would like to hear more about the Prophetic Imagination, please click here for information about the Nurturing the Prophetic Imagination Conference that will run concurrently with the 2010 Writer's Symposium by the Sea. Daily Commuter rates for conference attendees are available and include meals, tickets to symposium evening events, and access to numerous academic presentations both Thursday and Friday.
Tickets will go on sale in January. For more information and to purchase tickets, please go to www.pointloma.edu/writers or contact Event Coordinator Edie Chapman at 619-849-2297 or at ediechapman@pointloma.edu
To view previous interviews, please visit www.ucsd.tv/writers
The Writer's Symposium by the Sea is co-sponsored by the Point Loma Nazarene University Department of Literature, Journalism and Modern Languages, the Wesleyan Center for 21st Century Studies, and the San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.