@bodytext: For every misinformed kid who thinks "a time to be born / a time to die" is merely a line from a Byrds song, who only knows Madonna as the aging pop star, and who thinks "Joan of Arc" is just a drama on the WB, help is on the way.
Religion and art can seem like two oppositional forces at times, but the truth is that they have affected one another since their creation. The connection between the two has endured crusades, inquisitions, the rise of atheism and Marilyn Manson, and continues to be a contentious issue for debate.
Students will get the chance to examine the effects of art and religion on one another this semester at the Chaplain's Table, a weekly event cosponsored by the Chaplain's Office, the International Center, and the Fletcher School.
The Chaplain's Table has been around for "about 20 years" and is a program that is "pretty uniquely Tufts," according to University Chaplain Reverend David O'Leary. It offers students and faculty a chance to engage in informal discussion based around the semester's theme.
Past Chaplain's Table themes have included "The Body: Fasting and Feasting," "Spirituality Today," and "Religion and Popular Culture." This semester, the central topic is "Religion and the Arts." Each week, a different guest speaker will lead a discussion on a variety of subjects ranging from Romanesque church portals to Hebrew poetry in the Middle Ages.
Annah Jones, a junior who attended last week's Table, said that the mix of genres from week to week "brings attention to the things you wouldn't have paid attention to before" while shedding new light on topics "you would have had a bias toward."
Senior Deirdre Brodie agreed that the connection between religion and art is "a really worthwhile topic that no one talks about.
The Chaplain's Table's relaxed setup - it is held in the MacPhie Conference Room in the Dewick dining hall - allows it to address the kinds of debate-sparking topics that more formal Chaplaincy programs like Reflections, a series of lectures in Goddard, cannot tackle.
As O'Leary sees it, the biggest advantage of the setup of the Table is that it gives attendees "the ability to be in dialogue with the speaker over a period of two hours - just like a regular dinner conversation."
Another factor that keeps the conversation accessible to everyone is the variety of religious backgrounds and discussion topics that one finds at the Chaplain's Table. Jones counted among the program's strengths the fact that "there's a different person who comes every week and it's someone with a different perspective."
At last week's Table, every attendee did contribute: storyteller and folksinger Ben Tousley led the group in an impromptu rendition of the Robert Frost poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." O'Leary was quick to assure prospective Tablers that they aren't usually expected to recite poetry at dinner, but said the spontaneous performance proved that "poetry can be moving" and showed "what poetry and music can tap into."
If the idea of religion and art seems too complicated to grasp all at once, don't feel bad: even the greats have had trouble sorting this one out.
Cristelle Baskins, an associate professor in the art history department who will be speak about Michelangelo and religion on Oct. 14, guessed in an e-mail that her main point will be that "this topic is extremely difficult to pin down since the artist's ideas changed over his long lifetime."
Don't take Michelangelo's position changes as evidence of flip-flopping though; Baskins said that, "looking at Michelangelo's spirituality provides a wonderful opportunity to understand the dynamism of the church in the early modern period."
In the end, religion and art are two intensely personal experiences which cannot be easily explained. As Brodie remarked, "people use art to express themselves creatively. What comes out in the creative process reflects what's inside you." If you're interested in exploring how your own creative process works, check out the Chaplain's Table this Thursday. And bring along your Muse; she could use a free dinner.
The Chaplain's Table meets weekly from 5 PM to 7 PM in the MacPhie Conference Room at the Dewick Dining Hall and is free.
