Faces of Faith in Second Life

UC Berkeley students broadcast live from virtual world of Second Life to Real Life
News21 fellow Kara Andrade and religion writer Don Lattin will moderate a discussion with religious experts on the expression of faith in virtual worlds.

Fellows from the News21 journalism initiative and their faculty advisors launch a groundbreaking experiment bringing important journalism and ongoing discussions about faith to Second Life, the innovative virtual community.The project, developed at the News 21 site at the University of California Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley is part of the fellowship’s 2007 program focusing on “God, Sex and Family.” That’s where choices about marriage, dating, the building of community, family and faith play out in private life. To see the stories as they unfold over the next three weeks, go to www.newsinitiative.org/ucb or go to Second Life to see them streamed into different tents created to look and feel like a church revival.

The final event will be a panel discussion on Sunday, July 29 from 12-1:30 PM PST held inworld and broadcast live through SLCN, the Second Life Cable Network. Religion writer and News21 Senior Editor Don Lattin will moderate. Panelists include SL worshipers, spiritual leaders, and theologians. For more information contact Kara Andrade: kara.andrade [at] yahoo [dot] com, 510-384-0788 or inworld under KaraAndrade Writer.

News 21 is a national initiative led by five leading universities and funded by the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.

To attend panel and tents inworld go to:
NOWHEREVILLE ISLAND
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/113/81/26/

Join us in real life on July 29, 11am to 3:30pm at:
UC Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism
121 North Gate Hall #5860, Lower Newsroom
Berkeley, CA 94720
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/etc/directions.html

Press Materials
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Panalists
Don Lattin
Second Life Name: DonLattin Writer
One of the nation’s leading journalists covering alternative and mainstream religious movements and figures in America. He is the author of the upcoming book “Jesus Freaks- A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge.”

Kara Andrade
Second Life Name: KaraAndrade Writer
Online journalist, producer and News21 fellow. Kara graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Journalism.Frank Scott
Second Life Name: Franko Corleone
Frank, 48, is a respected technology futurist in Australia. He has been a Hare Krishna devotee for many years and follows Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja as his spiritual master. In January 2007 he created a virtual temple, now the “Hare Krishna community welcome area”.

Kenneth Sutton
Second Life Name: Otenth Paderborn
Managing editor of UU World and uuworld.org.
Also founded the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) group in SL in January 2007, and the resulting First Friends Church of Second Life, which has been meeting weekly for worship since February.

Beth Odets
Second Life Name: Beth Odets
Founded the Second Life Synagogue (SLS) or the Temple Beth Israel in September 2006. She is part of the Live Music scene in SL, and tends to spontaneously have live Violin shows, mixing requests with traditional Jewish folk music, a little classical here and there, and tons of Broadway show tunes.

Tom Boellstorff
Second Life Name: Tom Boellstorff
Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. He is also currently Editor-in-Chief of American Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association.

Muhammedyussif Wikinger
Second Life Name: Muhammedyussif Wikinger
Lives in Sweden, 63 years old, embraced Islam 20 years ago and is now board member of the Chebi mosque support group in SL. He is a psychiatrist in real life.