Shaking Up The Consciousness

Season 5, Episode 7

Shaking Up The Consciousness

The Ethics of Cultural Heritage and How We Live and Die

In this episode, Melissa Kerin, Professor of Art History at Washington and Lee University and Director of the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics, discusses this year’s theme for the Mudd Center, “How We Live and Die.” As a Buddhist art historian, she presents a unique perspective on the meaning of life and death and the moral questions that shape the human condition.  We discuss the history of the Mudd Center, the importance of storytelling for all of us as we process the reality of death and the way in which Buddhism addresses finality, particularly through its sacred artistic tradition. We also talk about Professor Kerin’s own journey from appreciating the social power of the arts through theater to beholding the shrines that influence the cultural world of small villages in the Himalayas.

Recorded: October 2, 2024
Aired: October 8, 2024

“Stay curious. Meet everything with curiosity. If you can, have intellectual curiosity, genuine curiosity, for what is coming down the road. Because there are some things that are very hard that meet you in life. You can meet it with distress and sadness, or being overwhelmed, but you can also bring a hint of curiosity even in the hardest times.”

~ Melissa Kerin, Professor of Art History and Director of the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics

Buddhist shrine
People gathered at a Buddhist shrine during a ritual celebration in Ladakh, India.
Montastery in Zangskar, India
Looking out to Karsha monastery in Zangskar, India.
Melissa Kerin at Buddhist shrine
Melissa Kerin at a Buddhist shrine in Ladakh, India.
Melissa Kerin in India
Melissa Kerin in India.