June 30, 2021
Shelter: A Viewing and Discussion with Leigh Finke
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June 24, 2021
Queer Ancestors, Holy Pride: A Community Arts Collage
On June 22, 2021, students, alumni, and friends of United got together for a special Pride arts lunch, where we created a community arts collage around the theme of queer ancestry, pride, and lgbtq+ iconography. The Following Pride flag is inspired by Daniel Quasar's Progress: Pride Flag Reboot, which brings together Gilbert Baker's original design with Tierney's inclusive Pride Flag (which incorporates black and brown strips in honor of black and other POC members of the LGBTQ community) and Seattle LGBTQ Commission's flag (which includes the pink, white and blue of the transgender flag). (more…)
June 16, 2021
Hollywood, Transgender Lives, and the Theological Response: A Panel on Disclosure (2020)
In Summer 2020, Theology and the Arts at United held a panel discussion on the Netflix documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen about the history of transgender representation in film and television. FOr Pride 2021, we have made the recording of the discussion available for viewing. (more…)
June 9, 2021
Is Star Wars a Religion? with Dr. Robyn Walsh
Every Tuesday, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities's Arts Program hosts "Arts Lunch," an opportunity for United community members to come together for a variety of workshops, presentations, and conversations at the intersection of Theology and the Arts. For this special May the 4th arts lunch, guest speaker Robyn Walsh talked about her work on the age-old question: Is Star Wars a Religion? In public articles, her podcast, and in the course she teaches at the University of Miami, Dr. Walsh has explored everything from Jediism as an ascetic practice, the Force as Pneuma, fandom and religiosity, and Star Wars and myth. (more…)
Stations of the Cross 2021: Online Exhibit
The Stations of the Cross is a Catholic devotion that commemorates fourteen images or stations from the last day of Jesus’ life. Participants meditate on each station and may recite specific prayers. As a processional liturgy—whether contained within a church or displayed in yards in a neighborhood—the Stations of the Cross is a kind of miniature pilgrimage in which the faithful engage in embodied meditation on the Passion of Jesus. (more…)
February 25, 2021
WITCHES! or, Feminist & Womanist Rituals of Ancestry & Magical Connection with Olivia Kamil Smarr
Every Tuesday, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities's Arts Program hosts "Arts Lunch," an opportunity for United community members to come together for a variety of workshops, presentations, and conversations at the intersection of Theology and the Arts. On Tuesday 2/16/21, guest artist and Emerging Leader Fellow with Arts Religion Culture, Olivia Kamil Smarr, presented on WITCHES! or, Feminist & Womanist Rituals of Ancestry & Magical Connection. In this video Smarr facilitates a discussion around Black witches in pop culture, the methods through which they access supernatural power, and how those methods mirror our own rituals and spiritual practices. You can watch the presentation here! (more…)
February 1, 2021
Ernst Troeltsch Through the Lens of Claude Monet – Arts Lunch 1/26/21
Claude Monet, Three Paintings from Rouen Cathedral Series, 1892-1894. (more…)
December 23, 2020
On Waiting: Writings from Advent 2020
We've all waited before--for buses, appointments, test results, acceptance letters, rejection notices, first kisses, last breaths...we do a lot of waiting in this world. Waiting is an inherently vulnerable and inescapably human experience. This Advent, a season of aware waiting, we sent out a call to the United community for stories, thoughts, poems, and reflections on the act of waiting. The following volume is a free collection of all the submissions. Download the PDF here. (more…)