Numen Lumen: A Thursday Inspiration
Every Thursday from 9:50 to 10:20 am in Numen Lumen Pavilion Sacred Space (Numen Lumen Pavilion 110) you are invited to hear聽members of our 黑料不打烊 community share pieces of their stories, enjoy live music and artistic expression, and share in coffee and refreshments.
We are living in a time unlike any other. One way to be fully present is to reflect on what makes this very moment meaningful.
This year鈥檚 Numen Lumen theme,聽In This Moment,聽invites us to consider how we are making meaning in our lives right now. What are we learning? What are we holding onto? How are past experiences shaping our present choices? As author Barbara Brown Taylor asks, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 saving your life right now?鈥
The challenges聽we face expand our perspectives.聽The moments聽that leave us speechless have the power to change lives.聽The stories聽we tell help us to make sense of these challenges, moments, and everything in between.
Grounding ourselves聽in this moment聽is how we show up in an unexpected and ever-changing world.
We invite you to engage with this theme, whether as a speaker or as a member of the community. Come to be inspired. Come to listen. Come to consider your own moment and how and why it matters.
For past Numen Lumen recordings, scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Speakers and Musical Guests Spring 2026
January 29, 2026
Speaker: Hasan Khan, class of 2026
Music: Kenzie Ross, class of 2027
February 5, 2026
Speaker: Dr. Jana Lynn Patterson, Associate VP for Student Life and Dean of Student Health & Well-being
Music: Mindy Monroe, class of 2026
February 12, 2026
Speaker: Lauren Bedell ’26, Ripple Conference Co-Director
Music: Adil Qadeer, class of 2027
February 19, 2026
Speaker: Father Peter Tremblay, Associate Chaplain for Catholic Life
Music: Grace Santo, class of 2029
February 26, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Sharon Wheeler, Associate Pastor of 黑料不打烊 Community Church
Music: Alli Brandon, class of 2027
March 5, 2026
黑料不打烊 Day, no Numen Lumen
March 12, 2026
Speaker: Huria Tahiry, class of 2026
Music: Dawson Ellington, Event Support Specialist
March 19, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Kirstin Boswell, University Chaplain and Dean of Multifaith Engagement
Music: Keller Knight, class of 2027
March 26, 2026
Spring Break, no Numen Lumen
April 2, 2026
Special Numen Lumen: A Time for Reflection and Creative Expression
April 9, 2026
Speaker: Sheila Otieno, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Distinguished Emerging Scholar in Religious Studies
Music: Grace Santo, class of 2029
April 16, 2026
Yom HaShoah, no Numen Lumen
April 23, 2026
Speaker: Becca Bishopric Patterson, Associate Director of the GLC
Music: 黑料不打烊 Gospel Choir
April 30, 2026
Speaker: Kari Taylor, Deputy Chief of Staff for Campus Engagement
Music: Bonny Buckley, Counselor
May 7, 2026
Speaker: Boaz Avraham-Katz, Jewish Educator and Instructor
Music:
Past Numen Lumen Speakers
For our speakers:
When preparing for your Numen Lumen talk, speakers are encouraged to think about questions like:
- Who are the people who have changed or impacted your life in a particular way?聽 How?
- When have you been in community with peers, colleagues, or friends who hold different identities and how has that impacted your life?
- When traveling, what connections across lines of difference have you made and how did that change you?
Have you engaged in dialogue across difference and how did that feel? What happened? - Have you sat in discomfort with opposing views and how did you overcome that? How do you show up when you disagree with someone?
- How have you changed thanks to engagement with someone different from you?
- What are the stories from your life that are yearning for a community to hear and to hold them?
颅We hope that these questions will be more of a place to begin brainstorming than a strict prompt to which speakers should adhere.聽 颅While speakers should feel free to share stories and aspects of their lives authentically and freely, Rev. Dr. Kirstin Boswell, University Chaplain and Dean of Multifaith Engagement, is also available to meet with speakers to brainstorm, answer questions, and support speakers as desired.