K-State to host World Religions Festival, an international celebration of wisdom, faith and culture
Friday, Aug. 9, 2024
MANHATTAN — Learn about and celebrate major faiths of the world at Kansas State University's World Religions Festival from 7-10 p.m. Tuesday, August 27, at Forum Hall in the K-State Student Union. This free event is open to the public and will feature religious leaders from Kansas and around the world.
On the agenda is a two-hour show featuring TED-style, five-minute talks by leaders representing major world religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as well as some newer universalizing religions that merge multiple religions into one. Those include Bahai, Daesoon Jinrihoe of Korea and Cao Dai of Vietnam. Featured guests will also perform music, show videos and share spiritual practices from a wide range of religions.
Following the show, there will be a one-hour reception with free food and religious exhibits. More information about the festival's activities and represented religions can be found on the event website.
"This event will really showcase that K-State is a place for all Kansans and others regardless of faith or cultural background and that this is a place that can prepare students to go anywhere in the world and build meaningful relationships across cultural differences," said Michael Wesch, festival coordinator and professor of cultural anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences.
More than 20 guests from Vietnam, Korea and Taiwan, and religious leaders from around Kansas, will participate in the festival. This includes monks from the Buddhist Temple of Salina and, from Manhattan, Father Gale Hammerschmidt from St. Isadore's Catholic Student Center, Dr. Fatma Rahdi from the Islamic Center, Pastor Christian Watkins of Ecumenical Campus Ministry, Miriam Edelman and David Marcus from the Manhattan Jewish Congregation, and Bruce Grover from the Bahai community.
Attendees will see K-State faculty members and students showing sides of themselves not usually seen in the classroom. Janyam — a band featuring Rekha Natarajan, teaching associate professor of mathematics, Bala Natarajan, professor of engineering, and their family — will entertain the crowd with traditional Indian instruments. Ramasamy Perumal, professor of agronomy, will sing verses from the Bhagavad Gita. Otto Chanyakorn, assistant professor of architecture, will lead a guided meditation from the Thai Forest Tradition. Terrell Campbell, graduate student in chemistry, West Hempstead, New York, will immerse the audience in the Black Church experience with his piano. Resonate A Capella will perform majestic renditions of Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For" and Lauren Daigle's "You Say."
"This will be a festive atmosphere bringing people from all over the world together to share their ideas about what it is to be human, how to live a good life, how to care for one another, and how to find peace, meaning and happiness," Wesch said.
Many of the international guests are familiar with K-State as they have hosted students on recent education abroad trips.
"We are excited to welcome them to our home and keep building our international relationships to create more high-impact experiences for students in the future," Wesch said.
K-State's Anthropology Club and The Alliance for Religious Exploration, Tolerance, and Education, or ARETE, are helping with event organization. ARETE is a new student organization led by Duncan Young, senior in geography, Manhattan, and its members come from a wide range of faith backgrounds to explore different religions in a spirit of openness and mutual appreciation.
The festival has received financial sponsorship from the K-State Student Union Program Council, the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies, the Office of International Programs, Daesoon Jinrihoe, Weixin Shengfiao and Cao Dai.
Wesch is a Kansas State University distinguished teaching scholar and has received many awards, including a U.S. Professor of the Year award. He is best known for his videos about culture, religion and technology.
