Centre For Religion and Culture

Associate Professor of Political Science
Martha Lee

Martha Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science, and Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Religion and Conflict. Her research interests are in the areas of religious and political apocalyptic beliefs and millenarian movements, and also in the role of conspiracy theories in fostering extremism. Her work examines the intersection of religion and politics, and how the combination of those two areas yields conflict, and often violence. Dr. Lee is the author of The Nation of Islam, An American Millenarian Movement, and Earth First! Environmental Apocalypse and editor of Millennial Visions. She has also authored and co-authored journal articles in these fields. Her most recent articles include AAmerican Millenarianism and Violence: Origins and Expression@ in the Journal for the Study of Radicalism. Her forthcoming book, Conspiracy Rising: The Growing Role of Conspiracy Thinking in American Public Life (Greenwood, 2010), considers the ways in which conspiracy theory increases community prejudice and fosters conflict among religious and political groups.

An important component of Dr. Lee’s work as Stephen Jarislowsky Chair is interfaith work in the Windsor community. To that end, she founded and works with the Windsor Women’s Interfaith Initiative (www.womensinterfaith.org), an organization run from Assumption University’s Centre for Religion and Culture.

The Chair in Religion and the Arts
Barry T. Brodie, PHD

"The arts have a unique and important role far beyond providing entertainment. Artists are a vital force of change and an authentic force for realignment. In a world of ever-increasing chaos, artists imbued with the realization of the Universal Source of creativity must take their place as a stabilizing factor by evidencing through their art what it is to move beyond the mind and catch the force of the Unseen." -Dr. Kenneth G. Mills

"Somewhere a human in the ancient, pre-historical world arose, went to the mouth of the cave, faced the rising sun and exclaimed a sense of awe at the beauty of nature, the mystery of life and the joy of human experience. That utterance, that vocalization of human mystery and delight became the foundation for further, more ritualized and formal, expression of awe and joy. The deeper this expression went toward ritual, the more it took on the accoutrements of religion. When the sense of awe and mystery centered on expressing human feeling, [the arts] emerged." -Dr. Lauren Friesen

The focus of the Chair in Religion and the Arts is two-fold: (1) the relationship between art and religion and how each affects the other; and (2) the subtle, more personal exploration of art and spirituality. In keeping with the mandate of the Centre for Religion and Culture the Chair in Religion and the Arts pursues academic and professional research as well as builds bridges of social outreach into the community. Towards that end, the Chair sponsors lectures and symposia and produces theatrical and musical performances and art exhibitions.

The Chair in Religion and the Arts is currently held by Dr. Barry T. Brodie, a graduate of the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California, Berkeley. His area of study was Theology and the Arts, which makes him particularly suited for his current position in the Centre for Religion and Culture.

Dr. Brodie is an actor, director and playwright. He has taught playwriting at the Arizona Theatre Company in Tucson; public speaking at Mercy College in New York; comparative religion at Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills, Michigan; and is currently teaching The Creative Process in the School of Dramatic Art at the University of Windsor. In the winter 2010 he shall be offering a course in the Master of Theology Programme entitled The Beauty of Revelation: exploring ministry through the arts.

<h1>Centre For Religion and Culture</h1>

<div class="devofficeppl">
    <img src="img/mlee.jpg" alt="Martha Lee" class="imgcontentright" />
    <span class="txt"> 
        <span class="txtalt">Associate Professor of Political Science</span>
        <br/>
        Martha Lee
    </span>
</div>

<p class="txt">
  Martha Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science, and Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Religion and Conflict. Her research interests are in the areas of religious and political apocalyptic beliefs and millenarian movements, and also in the role of conspiracy theories in fostering extremism.  Her work examines the intersection of religion and politics, and how the combination of those two areas yields conflict, and often violence.  Dr. Lee is the author of The Nation of Islam, An American Millenarian Movement, and Earth First! Environmental Apocalypse and editor of Millennial Visions.  She has also authored and co-authored journal articles in these fields.  Her most recent articles include AAmerican Millenarianism and Violence: Origins and Expression@ in the Journal for the Study of Radicalism.  Her forthcoming book, Conspiracy Rising:  The Growing Role of Conspiracy Thinking in American Public Life (Greenwood, 2010), considers the ways in which conspiracy theory increases community prejudice and fosters conflict among religious and political groups.
  <br/>
  <br/>
  An important component of Dr. Lee’s work as Stephen Jarislowsky Chair is interfaith work in the Windsor community.  To that end, she founded and works with the Windsor Women’s Interfaith Initiative (<a href="http://www.womensinterfaith.org" class="links">www.womensinterfaith.org</a>), an organization run from Assumption University’s Centre for Religion and Culture.
</p>

<hr/>

<div class="devofficeppl">
    <img src="img/barry-brodie.jpg" alt="Martha Lee" class="imgcontentright" />
    <span class="txt"> 
        <span class="txtalt">The Chair in Religion and the Arts</span>
        <br/>
        Barry T. Brodie, PHD
    </span>
</div>

<p class="txt">
"The arts have a unique and important role far beyond providing entertainment.  Artists are a vital force of change and an authentic force for realignment.  In a world of ever-increasing chaos, artists imbued with the realization of the Universal Source of creativity must take their place as a stabilizing factor by evidencing through their art what it is to move beyond the mind and catch the force of the Unseen." -<b>Dr. Kenneth G. Mills</b>
<br />
<br />
"Somewhere a human in the ancient, pre-historical world arose, went to the mouth of the cave, faced the rising sun and exclaimed a sense of awe at the beauty of nature, the mystery of life and the joy of human experience.  That utterance, that vocalization of human mystery and delight became the foundation for further, more ritualized and formal, expression of awe and joy.  The deeper this expression went toward ritual, the more it took on the accoutrements of religion.  When the sense of awe and mystery centered on expressing human feeling, [the arts] emerged." -<b>Dr. Lauren Friesen</b>
<br />
<br />
The focus of the Chair in Religion and the Arts is two-fold:  (1) the relationship between art and religion and how each affects the other; and (2) the subtle, more personal exploration of art and spirituality.  In keeping with the mandate of the Centre for Religion and Culture the Chair in Religion and the Arts pursues academic and professional research as well as builds bridges of social outreach into the community.  Towards that end, the Chair sponsors lectures and symposia and produces theatrical and musical performances and art exhibitions.
<br />
<br />
The Chair in Religion and the Arts is currently held by Dr. Barry T. Brodie, a graduate of the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California, Berkeley. His area of study was Theology and the Arts, which makes him particularly suited for his current position in the Centre for Religion and Culture.
<br />
<br />
Dr. Brodie is an actor, director and playwright.  He has taught playwriting at the Arizona Theatre Company in Tucson; public speaking at Mercy College in New York; comparative religion at Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills, Michigan; and is currently teaching The Creative Process in the School of Dramatic Art at the University of Windsor.  In the winter 2010 he shall be offering a course in the Master of Theology Programme entitled The Beauty of Revelation:  exploring ministry through the arts.
</p>