Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series Addresses ‘Faith and Mental Health’ on March 3

Shanti Das

The University’s ongoing Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series, “Common and Diverse Ground: Raising Consciousnesses by Acknowledging the ‘Hidden’ Things that Divide Us,” continues on Tuesday, March 3, with the second dialogue of the Spring 2020 semester.

The dialogue will include an in-depth discussion on “Faith and Mental Health” with guest co-facilitator Shanti Das ’93 and graduate student co-facilitator Shaelise Tor.

Das is an accomplished entertainment industry veteran, speaker, author and philanthropist. Her music industry career (from intern to executive vice president) included positions at Capitol Records, LaFace Records, Columbia Records, Sony Urban Music and Universal Motown where she worked directly with some of music’s top talent like OutKast, Usher, Prince, TLC, Toni Braxton, Erykah Badu and more. She is also the founder of Silence the Shame, a nonprofit that seeks to normalize the conversation around mental health and wellness by curating community conversations, creating content and broadening awareness and education.

The event will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Noble Room of Hendricks Chapel. Dinner starts at 5 p.m. The gathering will include a shared meal, facilitated dialogue and two periods of mindful meditation (at the beginning and the end). American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and inclusive food will be provided. Requests for accommodations or food queries should be made in advance by contacting Diane Wiener at dwiener@law.syr.edu.

The third Interfaith Dialogue Dinner of Spring 2020 will take place on March 23 with guest co-facilitator Professor Ralph Savarese of Grinnell College and graduate student co-facilitator Sarah Nahar. That event, “‘Moby Dick,’ Faith and Ecology,” will also be held in the Noble Room of Hendricks Chapel and will begin at 5 p.m. with dinner, followed by the discussion at 5:30 p.m. All events in the series are free, open to the public and do not require an RSVP.

The Spring 2020 “Common and Diverse Ground” series is co-sponsored by Hendricks Chapel, the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach in the Burton Blatt Institute, Intergroup Dialogue and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Over the past five years, the series has brought members of the campus community together in an inclusive environment to explore challenging contemporary issues.

Learn more about the March 3 dialogue dinner on the Events Calendar posting. For more information on the event series, contact Hendricks Chapel at chapel@syr.edu or 315.443.2901.