Interfaith Scholar Weekend and Fresno City College welcome you to our Book Study!

Week 4: Monday, March 8, 4-5 pm, PST, Muslim Faith Tradition Click Here for Live Link

When it's live, you will NOT need a Facebook account to join us on this link!

The second part of this series, Weeks 2-5, focuses on a contemplative reading of Eddie S. Glaude Jr.’s book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. In four weekly, 60-minute Zoom sessions, ISW will host interfaith, heart-based conversations with representatives of four faith traditions as they engage Professor Glaude’s masterful reading of James Baldwin—his life, his times, his legacy!

Journey with us for our six weekly interfaith Zoom conversations, when we will consider what it means to “Bear Witness” to Fresno’s history of racism and redlining. All sessions are free!

Master Schedule

PART I: Opening Panel

Week 1: February 15, 4–5:30 pm, Opening Panel with Guest Scholars

Moderator by Andrew Fiala, PhD, Director of The Ethics Center, Fresno State University

Guest Scholars

• Malik Simba, PhD, Professor Emeritus of History and Africana Studies, Fresno State University

• Nathan K. Hensley, PhD, Associate Professor of English, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

• Uziel Jimenez, Antiracist Educator, Co-Founder Fresno Ethnic Studies Coalition, Fresno, CA

PART II: Book Study (Weeks 2-5)

Week 2: February 22, 4–5 pm, "Introduction," Chapter 1: "The Lie," and "Conclusion"

Moderated by Ashlie M. Kosinski, Co-founder The Wildflower Collective, Information Coordinator, ISW

• Christian Faith: Rev. Dr. Paul Binion, Pastor of Westside Church of God, Fresno
• Respondents
• Rev. Anna Lopez, New Thought Community, Fresno, Indigenous Cosmology and Modern Spirituality perspective
• Daniel O’Connell, PhD, Executive Director, Central Valley Partnership, Quaker-Buddhist perspective

Week 3: March 1, 4–5 pm, Chapter 2: "Witness" and Chapter 3: "The Dangerous Road"

Moderated by Gaonoucci Belle Vang, Social Media Coordinator, The Ethics Center, Fresno State University, Southeast Asian Parks Youth Advocate, Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries

• Reform Jewish Faith: Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
• Respondents
• Sukaina Hussain, Deputy Executive Director for CAIR Sacramento/Central Valley, Islamic perspective
• Lady Jessica Criner, St. Rest Baptist Church, Fresno, Christian perspective

Week 4: March 8, 4–5 pm, Chapter 4: "The Reckoning" and Chapter 5: "Elsewhere"

Moderated by Mariah Cushing, M.A., Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary

• Muslim Faith: Hajj Reza Nekumanesh, Executive Director, Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno
• Respondents
• Rabbi Rick Winer, Temple Beth Israel, Fresno, Reform Jewish perspective
• Sister Kathleen Drilling, SSND, St. Paul Catholic Newman Center, Director of Religious Education, Roman Catholic perspective

Week 5: March 15, 4–5 pm, Chapter 6: "Ruins" and Chapter 7: "Begin Again"

Moderated by Zena Chafi, Community Organizer for CAIR Fresno/Merced

• Hindu Faith: Veena Howard, PhD, Professor of Asian Religions, Peace and Conflict Studies, Fresno State University
• Respondents
• Darren Duerksen, PhD, Associate Professor of Intercultural and Religious Studies, Fresno Pacific University, Evangelical-Anabaptist Christian perspective
• Rev. Akiko Miyake-Stoner, Senior Pastor United Japanese Christian Church, Clovis, United Methodist Christian perspective

PART III: Closing Roundtable

Week 6: March 22, 4–5:30 pm, Closing Roundtable

Moderated by Jim Grant, Chair, Interfaith Scholar Weekend

• Guest Scholars (from Part I)
• Malik Simba, PhD, Professor Emeritus of History and Africana Studies, Fresno State University
• Nathan Hensley, PhD, Associate Professor of English, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Uziel Jimenez, Fresno Ethnic Studies Coalition and Sunnyside High School, Fresno, CA

• Their Conversation Partners Representing Four Faiths

• Rev. Dr. Paul Binion, Pastor of Westside Church of God, Fresno
• Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
• Hajj Reza Nekumanesh, Executive Director, Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno
• Veena Howard, PhD, Professor of Asian Religions, Fresno State University

• Closing remarks: Jim Grant, M.A., Chair for ISW

Co-sponsored by: American Friends Service Committee; Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization; Bodhi Oak Zen Sangha; Central Valley Partnership; Fresno State University Foundation; Fresno State University The Ethics Center; Community United Church of Christ; Council on American-Islamic Relations; First Congregational Church; Fresno City College; Fresno Pacific University; Fresno Pacific University Biblical Seminary; Fresno Pacific University, Department of Biblical and Religious Studies; Fresno Pacific University, Intercultural and Religious Studies; Human Rights Coalition; Interfaith Alliance of Central California; Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno; Memorial United Methodist Church; New Thought Community; Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno; Second Church of Christ, Scientist; Sikh Council of Central CA; Sophia's House; St. James Episcopal Cathedral; St. Paul Catholic Newman Center; St. Rest Baptist Church; Temple Beth Israel; Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno; United Japanese Christian Church; Wesley United Methodist Church; Westside Church of God, Fresno