Humanities forum to consider a variety of traditions, seeking "Insights into Immortality," April 24

Surveys since the events of 9/11 indicate a greater identification with religious and spiritual traditions than has obtained among Americans in recent times. Many of the great questions posed by both religion and philosophy, at times paralleled or challenged by science, are again topics of popular discourse.

A roundtable humanities forum at Stevens Institute of Technology will consider religious, philosophical and scientific views on the subject of immortality, from the standpoint of the major religions as well as the realm of biological science.

The forum will take place April 24, from 4-6 p.m. The location will be the Fielding Room on the third floor of the Wesley J. Howe Center at Stevens, situated one block east of 8th Street and Castle Point Terrace in Hoboken. Admission is free and press and public are welcome. Light refreshments will be served. For further details and information regarding parking, please call Professor Schept at (201) 216-5115 or email sschept@stevens.edu.

The organizer of the forum is Professor Susan Schept, affiliate instructor in the department of humanities and social sciences. Schept will moderate the forum with Professor M.G. Prasad of the department of mechanical engineering, who is also a scholar of the Vedic religious tradition.

Roundtable panelists will include Ms. Deb Sheridan, a Lutheran pastoral assistant; Rabbi Robert Scheinberg of the United Synagogue of Hoboken; Professor Prasad; and Imam Youssef Hasani, who was recently selected as the first Muslim chaplain at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Presenting biological perspectives on immortality will be Nuran Kumbaraci, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Stevens.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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