Conference for Religious Educators to Ask “What Will We Teach Our Children About Each Other?”

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 22, 2012 -
Aspiring and emerging religious educators – Christian, Jewish, and Muslim – are invited to apply to participate in a ground-breaking conference to be held in late June 2012 to ask the vital question “What will we teach our children about each other?” and, through the support of generous donors, all those chosen to participate will do so free-of-charge.

The conference, scheduled for June 24-27, 2012 at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in the Connecticut Berkshires, is the result of a unique partnership between the Retreat Center and the Manhattan College Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center.  

Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, the new Director of the Manhattan College center, is the first Muslim to serve as the director of a Holocaust center in North America and stresses the value of teaching the next generation lessons in interreligious respect and understanding.  “This will be a unique opportunity to engage future religious leaders in a multi-day setting,” says Dr. Afridi, “not only to listen to and learn from one another but to begin to engage in real hands-on collaborative work in creating new models for religious education.”

According to Dr. Afridi, the conference’s goals include fostering relationships among future religious educators; exploring existing practices in religious education that help to shape narratives that lead to suspicion, misunderstanding, mistrust; and exploring potential practices, both within communities and through interreligious partnership, that would foster a new narrative promoting respect, understanding, and cooperation.

The conference is set to include a combination of plenaries, facilitated group conversations, and collaborative work between diverse groups of participants, all under the guidance of experienced conference leaders with histories in interreligious dialogue and education.  Leaders for the conference are set to include Michel Andraos of the Catholic Theological Union; Haifa Bint Kadi, a New York-based Arts Educator; Nancy Fuchs Kreimer of Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; Hussein Rashid of Center for Spiritual Inquiry; Rabbi Or Rose of Hebrew College; and Dr. Afridi.

With the support of generous partners including the Common Sense Fund, Ken Orce, Michael Somoroff, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, and the New Light Foundation, all selected participants will be able to attend the conference free-of-charge, including lodging and meals.  

“We are excited not only to be able to offer such a ground-breaking event,” says Isabella Freedman Executive Director David Weisberg, “but to be able to offer it in a way that removes the financial obstacle that could prevent some young emerging religious educators from attending.” According to Weisberg, potential participants range from those engaged in university studies leading to a career in religious education to those actively working as religious educators, whether in religious, secular private, public schools, or other venues.  While the conference aims to engage aspiring and emerging educators, there is no age restriction for applicants.

Those interested in applying for conference participation should visit www.isabellafreedman.org/interfaitheducators or call 860-824-5991, extension 305.

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‘No Other Woman’ Grosses P100-M in 5 Days

Star Cinema and Viva Fims’ co-production “No Other Woman” surpassed the P100 million mark on its 5th day of showing.

The romantic drama “No Other Woman” which stars Anne Curtis, Derek Ramsay and Cristine Reyes is said to surpass the P100 million mark last night according to Star Cinema’s AdProm director Roxy Liquigan.

The Ruel Bayani-helmed movie was rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB).

It’s interesting to note that “No Other Woman” cancelled its premiere night last Tuesday, October 27, because of typhoon Pedring but on its opening day last Wednesday, it reportedly raked-in an impressive P15-million at the box-office.

By virtue of its P100 million gross in less than a week, “No Other Woman” is set to take the no. 1 slot in the top grossing Pinoy films for 2011 list.

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Tracking Apple's other Intel transition

(Credit: Apple)

With today's Mac and display updates in the can, Apple is just one machine away from having Thunderbolt across the line. That's the new speedy port that brings high-speed input/output to storage devices, displays, and other data hungry peripherals, topping what's available through USB 3.0 or Firewire 800 in theoretical transfer speed (see CNET's FAQ).

So far the number of gadgets that can make use of the nascent technology are few. In fact, it took months after Thunderbolt's introduction in Apple's MacBook Pro line earlier this year for the first purchasable Thunderbolt cable to show up. But the fact that Apple has made it that far in less than five months is no small feat. By comparison, it took the company a full year to move from USB 1.1 to USB 2.0 in its computers and LCD displays, starting in 2003 and heading on into 2004.

One stark difference in the two races for a faster port (besides the fact that Apple now sells more Macs in a quarter than it did during that entire year of the USB 2.0 transition), is that Apple's had a hand in developing Thunderbolt, and is the first manufacturer out of the gate to include it in its computers. While the technology started as an Intel Labs Project, Apple notes that the companies shared a "close technical collaboration" in bringing it to market.

By comparison, USB 2.0 made its first appearance on computers from Gateway and competed with Firewire, a standard that was developed with the help of Apple and that up until 2005 was a critical part of the company's iPod strategy.

Interestingly enough, today's timeline closely follows the one Apple made in the move from the PowerPC architecture to Intel's x86 processors back in 2005. That change, which began in January of 2006, was completed in August the same year and also represented a powerful deal with Intel that's going strong today. Apple ended up completing that transition faster than originally announced, but made no such promises with Thunderbolt. In fact, that Thunderbolt showed up first in Apple's MacBook Pro line suggested that Apple might have been keeping it as a high-end feature.

So that leaves the question about when the Mac Pro is getting its big update to complete the shift. It's been nearly a year since Apple released the last version of that machine, where it bumped up the processing power to 12 cores and beefed up the graphics card. The exterior design has remained relatively unchanged since before the company made its move to Intel processors. Add in the fact that the Mac Mini and the iMac now both have Thunderbolt ports, and it's a safe bet the technology will show up there too.

Of course, one thing that could throw off a nice and tidy Thunderbolt transition comparison is if Apple decides to bring the high-speed transfer technology to iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Those devices still depend on USB 2.0 to physically connect, but are not considered Macs.

Back in April, Apple was granted a patent for a new 30-pin dock connector that could take on "more new high-speed communication standards"--including DisplayPort, which is covered in the Thunderbolt specifications--pointing to the company considering a speed upgrade. Then again, iOS 5--which is being released as a free update later this year--cuts the cord altogether. It offers iTunes syncing over Wi-Fi, and will even let customers start using all the features of their gadget right out of the box, all without plugging into anything. Apple is unlikely to get rid of that port, not only because it's how you charge the device but also because of the massive peripherals business that's been built up around it. Perhaps then, whatever is unveiled at Apple's unannounced (yet entirely expected) music event in the coming months will include technology that will make use of Thunderbolt, and put all these new ports to work.

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