You are invited to attend a lecture by Dr. Liz Bucar: Feb. 27, 2025, at 7 p.m. in Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center on the Washburn campus.
The Monsters Under Our Mats: Exploring the Ethical Implications of Yoga
In this talk Liz Bucar uses the framework of appropriation to unpack the ethics of yoga. What does it mean to insist yoga is a spiritual but not religious practice? Are we entitled to borrow any practice in the pursuit of our personal health? What forms of structural injustice does the popularity of yoga depend on and reinforce? A leading scholar of religious ethics, Bucar draws on her own experience becoming a certified Kripalu yoga instructor to explore the moral risks of intercultural borrowing. She argues that when we ignore the core religious beliefs of the faithful and commodify their practices, we risk further marginalizing minority groups and reinforcing social inequities.
About Dr. Liz Bucar
Liz Bucar is a leading expert in religious ethics, a professor of religion at Northeastern University and a prizewinning author. Her writing, teaching and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—from sexual reassignment surgery to the politics of religious clothing—but generally focus on how a deeper understanding of religious difference can change our sense of what is right and good.
Bucar has written for The Atlantic, Teen Vogue, The Los Angeles Times and Religion News Service, among others, and her work has been discussed in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post and Instyle Magazine. She has written four books—including her most recent, "Stealing My Religion: Not Just Any Cultural Appropriation." She is also the director of Sacred Writes, a grant-funded project that provides media training for religion scholars.
Bucar received a degree in government from Harvard and a Ph.D. in religious ethics from the University of Chicago. She is a certified Kripalu yoga teacher and leads a popular study abroad program along the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
About the King lecture series
The Thomas L. King Lecture in Religious Studies, established in 1982 through a generous gift from the First Congregational Church in Topeka in memory of alumnus and Washburn benefactor Thomas L. King, now also receives support from contributions in memory of Rev. Dick Dickinson and Dr. Barry Crawford. This lecture series significantly enhances Washburn's religious studies program by offering a platform each spring semester for students, faculty, and community members to engage with the works of eminent scholars in the field. Over the years, the series has been privileged to host distinguished speakers such as Walter Brueggemann, Jacob Neusner, Martin Marty, John Dominic Crossan, Huston Smith, Wendy Doniger, Bart Ehrman, Peter Gomes, and Eva Morczek. Beyond the formal public lecture, speakers often arrange informal meetings with undergraduate classes, further enriching the educational experience.
The Thomas L. King Lecture in Religious Studies always is free and open to the public. It is held each spring semester.
First Congregational Lecture Series
March 27, 1983 - Walter Brueggemann
"Obedience and Imagination in the Life of Faith"
Thomas L. King Memorial Lecture Series
February 19, 1984 - Charles H. Talbert
"Mission, Formation & Community: Discipleship in Luke & Acts"
March 3, 1985 - Walter Harrelson
"The Prophet Ezra: Champion of the Law, Friend of Sinners"
April 13, 1986 - George W.E. Nickelsburg, Jr.
"The First Century: A Time to Rejoice and a Time to Weep"
April 26, 1987 - Elizabeth Achtemeier
"The Themes of Isaiah: Words for our Time"
March 27, 1988 - Leander E. Keck
"Paul: Problem and Promise"
Thomas L. King Lecture in Religious Studies
April 30, 1989 - David Ray Griffin
"Religion and Science in the Post-Modern World"
March 11, 1990 - Dennis E. Groh
"New Discoveries in New Testament Galilee: Excavations at Sepphoris"
April 14, 1991 - Rosemary Radford Ruether
"Eco-Feminism: Social and Symbolic Connections Between the Domination of Women and the Domination of Nature"
November 21, 1991 - Jacob Neusner
"From Doctrine to Imagination: A Different Kind of Judaeo-Christian Dialogue"
September 17, 1992 - Martin E. Marty
"The Extremes of Fundamentalism: Global and Local Issues"
October 14, 1993 - John Dominic Crossan
"Jesus the Peasant"
September 29, 1994 - E.P. Sanders
"Jesus as Prophet of the Restoration of Israel"
October 24, 1995 - Lawrence H. Schiffman
"Scholars, Scrolls, and Scandals: Christianity, Judaism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls"
November 12, 1996 - Huston Smith
"The Coming World Civilization"
October 13, 1997 - Paula Fredriksen
"Jews, Romans, and the Death of Jesus"
March 10, 1999 - Ron Cameron
"The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Origins"
March 7, 2000 - Langdon Gilkey
"The Creationism Controversy"
March 8, 2001 - Merrill Miller
"Redescribing Christian Origins"
October 25, 2001 - Karen L. King
"Early Christian Diversity and Contemporary Christian Identity"
April 16, 2002 - Jonathan Z. Smith
"God Save This Honourable Court": Religion in Public Discourse"
April 8, 2003 - Amy-Jill Levine
"Jews and Christians in Conversation: The Future of Interfaith Dialogue"
April 20, 2004 - John Dominic Crossan
"The Life of Jesus and American Christianity"
April 12, 2005 - Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad
"Islam in the West: History, Theologies, and Values"
April 4, 2006 - Wendy Doniger
"The Mythology of Magic Rings of Forgetfulness"
April 17, 2007 - Derek Davis
“Religion and Politics in the United States: Conflicts and Anomalies”
April 11, 2008 - Bart D. Ehrman
“God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Explain Human Suffering”
April 25, 2009 - Peter J. Gomes
“Beyond the Bible: Recovering the Gospel”
April 14, 2010 - Mark D. Nanos
“Images of Jews and Judaism in Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Challenging Translation Decisions That Subvert Paul’s Message”
March 10, 2011 - Robert Jewett
“Jesus, Captain America, and Barack Obama: The Superhero Myth in Contemporary America”
October 26, 2011 - Ferdinand Schlingensiepen
“Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance”
April 24, 2013 - William E. Arnal
“Just How Christian Were the First Christians?”
October 28, 2013 - Robert Wuthnow
“Red State Religion”
October 15, 2015 - Amy-Jill Levine
“Pearls and Prodigals: Hearing Jesus’ Parables Through Jewish Ears”
September 13, 2016 - Rami Arav
“Bethsaida from King David to Jesus”
March 14, 2018 - Barry Crawford
“The King Lecture at 35: Retrospect and Prospect”
February 25, 2019 - Eva Mroczek
“Out of the Cave: Manuscript Discoveries and New Biblical Pasts”
February 25, 2020 - Cyrus Zargar “Muslim Encounters with the Christian Other in Persian Sufi Poetry”
February 15, 2022 - Ann Taves
"Sacralizing and Desecrating Public Spaces: Civil Religion, Worldviews, and the Role of Ultimate Values in the January 6 Attack and its Aftermath"
March 2, 2023 - Robyn Faith Walsh
"Argumentum ad lunam: Discourse and Competition on the Moon"
March 5, 2024 - Dan McClellan
"The Bible Tells Me So": Making Meaning with the Bible
GET IN TOUCH WITH Philosophy and Religious Studies Department
Philosophy and Religious Studies Department
Morgan Hall, Room 206
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621
Phone & Email
785.670.1542
phil-rg@washburn.edu
