Release date: Sept. 2, 2004

Emory's Family Forum Series Focuses on 'Challenge of Children'

Contact:
Elaine Justice, 404-727-0643, elaine.justice@emory.edu
April Bogle, 404-712-8713, abogle@law.emory.edu

The challenge of raising children - during a time of politically charged faith based-initiatives, controversial corporal punishment, crisis in the African American family and widespread juvenile violence - is the focus of the Family Forum Series 2004-2005, sponsored by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (CISR) at Emory University.

"Our current focus at the CISR is on children - in their being and becoming, birth and growth," says John Witte Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law and Ethics and CISR director. "This year's Family Forum Series explores the difficulties children and those raising them must face, from proper discipline to violent behavior."

The protection of children was the focus of last year's Family Forum Series, led by Martin E. Marty, renowned church historian and co-director of the CISR's project, "The Child in Law, Religion and Society."

Established in 2000 with a five-year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts and with matching funds and endowment support from Emory, the CISR is devoted to advanced study of themes at the intersection of religion, law and society. It sponsors research fellowships, faculty seminars, cross-listed courses, scholarly publications, public lectures, colloquia and conferences. The work of the CISR is inter-religious, interdisciplinary and internationally focused.

Family Forum Series 2004-05

"Why Churches Say No – Challenges Faith-Based Initiatives Pose to Religion & Family"
Steve Tipton, professor of sociology of religion at Emory, challenges the effectiveness of the Bush administration's faith-based initiatives.
Sept. 27, noon-1:20 p.m.

"Spare the Rod – Legal and Religious Challenges in Raising Children of the Book"
Murray Straus, professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, and a panel of respondents examine the issue of discipline from religious and legal perspectives. Opening by WSB-TV's Monica Kaufman.
Oct. 6, 2-5 p.m. Reception follows.

"Fatherhood, Children and Family – Challenges in African-American Communities"
Robert M. Franklin, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory, explores institutional and cultural crisis in four sectors of African-American life: family, church, black colleges and civil rights organizations.
Feb. 2, noon-1:20 p.m.

"Perpetrators and Victims: Challenges of Children of Violence"
Robyn Fivush, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology at Emory, discusses child/adolescent victims of violence; and Peter Ash, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory, explores today's youthful perpetrators of violence.
March 23, noon-1:20 p.m.

All events take place in Tull Auditorium, Emory Law School, 1301 Clifton Road, Atlanta. They are free and open to the public. For more information, call 404-712-8710 or go to http://www.law.emory.edu/cisr.

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