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Adult Education Living Beyond Genocide: Transgenerational Perspectives from Two Cultures Saturday, October 17, 2009, 7:00PM - 9:00PM Join us at Temple Habonim for a powerful evening with children of survivors of the Armenian and Jewish Genocides, Dr. Flora A. Keshgegian and Dr. David Stern, as we explore paths to resilience and hope. Dr. Flora A. Keshgegian is a theologian and Episcopal priest. She is the author of Redeeming Memories: A Theology of Healing and Transformation (Abingdon, 2000), Time for Hope: Practices for Living in Today's World (Continuum, 2006), God Reflected: Metaphors for Life (Fortress, 2008) and numerous articles about the effects of trauma, the aftermath of the Armenian genocide and theological perspectives on suffering. For many years, she served at Brown University as Associate University Chaplain and most recently as Faculty Ombudsperson. She has also taught at a variety of institutions, including Brown University and Stonehill College. "As the child of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, I grew up with the legacy of suffering and loss carried by my family and community. Given ongoing Turkish denial of the genocide, the community's emphasis was on past and continuing victimization by the Turkish government and on the need to keep the memories of suffering alive. I struggle with this inheritance and the undercurrents of trauma that fuel it. I seek for alternative ways to remember and to claim life after genocide." Dr. David Stern is a clinical psychologist, healer, consultant. He helps people restore a wholesome relationship between their cerebral intelligence and their natural intelligence. He teaches people that problems are, almost always, a path to enduring peace. This is true, even when faced with the legacy of genocide, with which we all, to varying extents live. "One of many common strategies for survivors of any genocide is to put the past behind them and to speak of that past as little as possible. This was the strategy that my parents chose, and so I, like many other children of survivors, grew up in a safe and generally wholesome environment, and my parents, unwittingly, implanted within me a black box filled with their forgotten terror. I have spent much of my life trying to open this box and develop my own relationship with its contents. I have been called to entertain and answer the following questions: This ongoing legacy is, in a variety of coded ways, alive in each of us. What does this living legacy call for? Why is it still here and what greater personal and cultural wholeness can we realize by properly engaging this living and present past?" Keshgegian and Stern will share their experiences and reflections followed by an open discussion. The evening will include music and food from both the Armenian and Jewish cultures. Please call Temple Habonim at 401 245-6536 for more information. Check the web site for directions.
Please check out: http://web.mac.com/joebattaglia/iWeb/BP%20Sonic/Podcast/73A1689C-5AC0-43D8-BF20-472E97E4017E.html for my ”This I Believe Essay,” which speaks about my brother who died of starvation during the genocide. I really would like to speak of my parent's resilience and what they have taught me. I also have narratives of what my parents told me about the genocide that kept me on the straight and narrow. Dr. David Stern is a clinical psychologist, healer, and consultant. He helps people restore a wholesome relationship between their cerebral intelligence and their natural intelligence. Dr. Stern teaches people that problems are, almost always, a path to enduring peace. This is true, even when faced with the legacy of genocide, with which we all, to varying extent, live. "One of many common strategies for survivors of any genocide is to put the past behind them and to speak of that past as little as possible. This was the strategy that my parents chose, and so I, like many other children of survivors, grew up in a safe and generally wholesome environment, and my parents, unwittingly, implanted within me a black box filled with their forgotten terror. I have spent much of my life trying to open this box and develop my own relationship with its contents. I have been called to entertain and answer the following questions: This ongoing legacy is, in a variety of coded ways, alive in each of us. What does this living legacy call for? Why is it still here and what greater personal and cultural wholeness can we realize by properly engaging this living and present past?" Keshgegian and Stern will share their experiences and reflections followed by an open discussion. The evening will include music and food from both the Armenian and Jewish cultures. Please call Temple Habonim at 401 245-6536 for more information.
Temple Habonim |