Al XX-lea Simpozion Ecumenic Interdisciplinar din New York

 

Sâmbătă 1 decembrie 2012 a avut loc la Metropolitan College din New York, sub egida Academiei Oamenilor de Ştiinţă din România, filiala USA, a Institutului Român de Teologie şi Spiritualitate Ortodoxă şi a instituţiei educaţionale universitare amintite, cel de-al 20-lea simpozion ecumenic, teologic şi interdisciplinar organizat iată, de 20 de ani, de Institutul Român de Teologie şi Spiritualitate Ortodoxă din New York. Tema evenimentului a  fost Time, Place and Self in Interdisciplinary Narratives. Participarea a fost de cel mai înalt nivel academic, la simpozion prezentând lucrări cercetători şi profesori de la mai multe universităţi americane în faţa unui public format din studenţi americani şi intelectuali români interesaţi de programul bogat anunţat în avans.

La deschidere Pr. Prof. univ. Dr. Theodor Damian, în calitate de organizator, a descris importanţa evenimentului, a introdus oaspeţii, a citit o serie de mesaje de felicitare primite de la oficialităţi române şi americane şi a dat cuvântul Preşedintelui Dr. Vinton Thompson de la Metropolitan College care şi-a exprimat bucuria de a găzdui o astfel de celebrare academică, a prezentat Colegiul cu facultăţile şi programele sale şi a felicitat pe toţi cei prezenţi. Prezentatorii şi temele, moderate de Prof. univ. Dr. Humphrey Crookendale, decan al Facultăţii de Business a Colegiului Metropolitan, au fost după cum urmează (titlurile academice şi temele sunt redate în engleză potrivit programului):

Theodor Damian, PhD, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Metropolitan College of New York; President of the Romanian Institute of Orthodox Theology and Spirituality: The Transcendent Dimension of Place and Time: A Theological Narrative.

Richard Grallo, PhD, Professor of Applied Psychology, Metropolitan College of New York: Truth in Perspective: Application of Interrogative Problem Representation.

Louis Tietje, PhD, Professor of Ethics, Metropolitan College of New York: The Role of Redemptive Narratives in Dan P. McAdams’s Theory of Personality: A Christian Critique.

Clair McPherson, PhD, Associate Professor of Ascetical Theology, General Theological Seminary; Professor of Theology, Fordham College Lincoln Center: Poor in Paradise: The Ascetical vision of Nilus of Ancyra in De Voluntaria Paupertate.

Paul J. LaChance, PhD, Associate Professor, Philosophy/Theology Department, College of St. Elisabeth, New Jersey:  Experience of Self and God: Gestalt and Focusing Interventions in Pastoral Counseling.

Roland Clark, PhD, Assistant Professor, History Department, Eastern Connecticut State University:  Orthodox Priests and the Legion of the Archangel Michael.

Steven Cresap, PhD, Associate Professor of Modern European Intellectual History, Metropolitan College of New York: Frightening Habits: Existential Effects of Extreme Aesthetic Experiences.

Doru Tsaganea, PhD, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Metropolitan College of New York: The Concept of Time Associated with Cybernetic Systems.

Dean Vasil, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Latin and Philosophy, Independent Scholar: Descendants of Pascal and Dostoievsky: European Critics of Technocracy.

Alina Feld, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Long Island University Global: The Self as Temporalized Being: From Heidegger to Levinas.

Comentatorul tematicilor, după prezentări, a fost Prof. univ. Dr. Bert Breiner de la Hunter College, City University of New York, care a angajat sala, dar în special pe prezentatori în superbe discuţii axate pe tematicile dezbătute, într-un fel de o a doua rundă de performanţă academică pe deplin gustată de toţi.

La jumătatea prezentărilor s-a făcut şi o pauză de cafea, iar la sfârşit s-a ţinut recepţia oficială tradiţională a simpozionului, oferită prin generozitatea şi  munca enoriaşilor Bisericii “Sf. Ap. Petru şi Pavel” din Astoria, New York.

A fost prezentă cu lucrări artistice diverse şi Galeria de artă “Spiritus” a Institutului Român de Teologie şi Spiritualitate Ortodoxă al cărei director este artista Viorica Colpacci.

Pentru o edificare mai solidă asupra anvergurii acestui simpozion în cei 20 de ani de activiate, prezentăm aici tematicile sale generale, din 1994 până în prezent:

1993: Worship and Identity in our Contemporary Society

1994: Quo Vadis Homo? Salvation and the Modern World

1995: Divine Creation and Human Responsibility in the Context of Contemporary Ecological Preoccupations

1996: Freedom and Responsibility in Contemporary Society

1997: Rediscovering God: The Relation between God and Man and its Significance for our Life Today

1998: The Theological Legacy of Fr. Dumitru Staniloae and its Ecumenical Actuality

1999: Jesus Christ as the Theandric Paradigm of Man's Restoration at the Dawn of the Third Millennium

2000: Humanity in the Third Millennium and the Mystery of the Divine

2001: Prayer as Theology of the Mind and of the Heart for the Humanity in the New Millennium

2002: Contemporary Culture in the Light of Christian Spirituality at the Beginning of the Third Millennium. The Secular Realities and Spiritual Perspectives

2003: Science and Theology: New Challenges and Perspectives

2004: Globalization from A (Archeology) to S (Spirituality): What Is It and Who Needs It?

2005: Unity in Diversity: Can We Live Together in an Apocalyptic World?

2006: The Glory of Knowledge: Construction and Deconstruction. When Human Quest Ends in Apophasis

2007: Theology and Literature: The Deification of Imagination and Its Cathartic Function in Spiritual Growth

2008: Cult and Culture: The Transcendental Roots of Human Civilization

2009: Religion and Politics: The Human Society between the Power of God and the Power of Man

2010: Meaning and Mystery: From the Philosophy of Knowledge to the Theology of Person

2011: Alienation and Authenticity in Environments of the 21st Century: Technology, Person and Transcendence

Evenimentul a avut frumoase ecouri în presa română atât din comunitatea românească din SUA, cât şi în cea din ţară.

 

Gheorghe Brehuescu

 

 

Program

 

 

The Academy of Romanian Scientists

Splaiul Independentei 54, Sector 5, 050094 Bucharest, Romania, tel. +40-21-314 7491, www.aos.ro

USA: 30-18 50th Street, Woodside, NY 11377, Tel. (718) 626-6013, Theodor Damian, PhD,  US Branch president

 

THE  ROMANIAN INSTITUTE OF  ORTHODOX  THEOLOGY AND  SPIRITUALITY

30-18 50th Street, Woodside, NY 11377, DamianTh@aol.com, Theodor Damian, PhD, president

 

The Metropolitan College of New York

431 Canal Street (at Varick Ave.), New York, NY 10013, www.metropolitan.edu

 

 

 

XXth Ecumenical Theological and Interdisciplinary Symposium

 

Time, Place and Self in Interdisciplinary Narratives

Saturday, December 1st, 2012

11:00 AM

 

Metropolitan College of New York

431 Canal Street (at Varick Ave.), New York, NY 10013

11th Floor - Room 11 N

Subway 1, 9, A, C, E stop at Canal Street

 

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Theodor Damian, PhD

Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Metropolitan College of New York; President of the Romanian Institute of Orthodox Theology and Spirituality:

The Transcendent Dimension of Place and Time: A Theological Narrative

 

Richard Grallo, PhD

Professor of Applied Psychology, Metropolitan College of New York:

Truth in Perspective: Application of Interrogative Problem Representation

 

Louis Tietje, PhD

Professor of Ethics, Metropolitan College of New York:

The Role of Redemptive Narratives in Dan P. McAdams’s Theory of Personality: A Christian Critique

 

Clair McPherson, PhD

Associate Professor of Ascetical Theology, General Theological Seminary; Professor of Theology, Fordham College Lincoln Center:

Poor in Paradise: The Ascetical vision of Nilus of Ancyra in De Voluntaria Paupertate

 

Paul J. LaChance, PhD

Associate Professor, Philosophy/Theology Department, College of St. Elisabeth, New Jersey:

Experience of Self and God: Gestalt and Focusing Interventions in Pastoral Counseling

 

Roland Clark, PhD

Assistant Professor, History Department, Eastern Connecticut State University:

Orthodox Priests and the Legion of the Archangel Michael

 

Steven Cresap, PhD

Associate Professor of Modern European Intellectual History, Metropolitan College of New York:

Frightening Habits: Existential Effects of Extreme Aesthetic Experiences

 

Doru Tsaganea, PhD

Associate Professor of Mathematics, Metropolitan College of New York:

The Concept of Time Associated with Cybernetic Systems

 

Dean Vasil, PhD                   

Adjunct Professor of Latin and Philosophy, Independent Scholar:

Descendants of Pascal and Dostoievsky: European Critics of Technocracy

 

Catalin Vatamanu, PhD

Associate Assistant of Old Testament Theology, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iassy, Romania:

The Light of God in the Hebrew and Christian Traditions

 

Ana R. Chelariu, MA, MLS

Writer, Independent Researcher:                   

The awareness of self from a linguistic perspective: Pro-Indo-European *séue (acc.) English self; German das Selbst, sich; Romanian m. sine, f. sinea

 

Alina Feld, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Long Island University Global:                         

The Self as Temporalized Being: From Heidegger to Levinas

 

 

Guests of Honor:

 

His Eminence Dr. Nicolae Condrea

Archbishop, The Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas

 

His Excellency Marian Pârjol

Consul General of Romania in New York

 

Vinton Thompson, PhD

President of the Metropolitan College of New York

 

Ruth Lugo, PhD

Dean of the Audrey Cohen School for Human Services and Education, Metropolitan College of New York

 

 

Moderator:

Humphrey Crookendale, JD

Dean, School of Management, Metropolitan College of New York

 

 

Discussant:

Bert Breiner, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor of Religion, Hunter College, City University of New York

 

 

Galeria Spiritus

Director: Viorica Colpacci, MA

Art Show