YSU Philosophy and Religious Studies

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Vopat whose book Children’s Rights and Moral Parenting was recently re-released in paperback by Lexington Books. Dr. Vopat’s book offers a systematic treatment of a variety of issues involving the intersection of the rights of children and the moral responsibility of parents. The text presents a theory of the relationship between parents, children, and the state which can then be applied to the real life decisions that parents are often in the position to make on behalf of their children. In many instances, our current view of parental rights has granted parents far more discretion than is morally warranted. This conclusion is arrived at by carefully considering the unique status children have; socially, legally and morally in most western societies.

Children’s Rights and Moral Parenting

2016 Carrasco from YSU Phil and Rel Studies on Vimeo.

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Our recent Shipka Speaker Dr. David Carrasco recently sent us a photo of himself in a “Fear the Penguin” shirt. I think we may have to make him an honorary YSU Penguin.

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2016 Shipka Speaker Carrasco.pdf

Dr. Michael Jerryson was invited to present a paper on Buddhist violence in Asia, titled “Marketing the Buddha and its Blasphemy” at the BBB Copenhagen Conference at the University of Copenhagen. Drawing upon his fieldwork among militant monks in Southern Thailand and studies across Asia, Michael Jerryson spoke about how Buddhist monks can reconcile their faith with acts of violence, and how the Buddhist traditions similar to other religious systems contain scriptures and beliefs that justify violence.

Dr. Jerryson in Copenhagen

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Mark Vopat, and Alan recently co-authored a paper, titled “The Business of Boycotting: Having your chicken and eating it too”. The paper was published in the Journal of Business Ethics a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal is listed on the Financial Times List of the top 50 business journals.

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The spring Shipka Speaker Series presenter Dr. Bart Ehrman was kind enough to do an interview for WYSU. Dr. Vopat from our department had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Ehrman about the talk he gave, his current projects, and a little about how he writes. For those that may have missed the Public Affairs program that aired at the beginning of summer, you can listen to it online here.

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There is an implicit argument here for all programmers to study the humanities (and maybe humanities majors studying a little programming).

To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf – The New York Times

“Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Changed the Scriptures and Readers Who May Never Know.”

Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar and author/editor of five best-selling books, presents the Dr. Thomas and Albert Shipka Speaker Series lecture 12:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center on the campus of Youngstown State University.

Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity. His work has been featured in Time, the New Yorker, the Washington Post and other print media, and he has appeared on NBC’s Dateline, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, The History Channel, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, the BBC, major NPR shows, and other top media outlets.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

A reception will be held in the Ohio Room of Kilcawley Center following the lecture.

Dr. Ehrman’s work has been challenged by conservative Christians. One such challenge occurred in a debate between Dr. Ehrman and the theologian James White:

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