Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

Gastón Espinosa is the Arthur V. Stoughton professor of religious studies at Claremont McKenna College and the co-editor of the Columbia University Press Series in Religion & Politics. He has directed seven Latino national surveys and is the author of numerous book including Latino Religions & Politics in American Public Life (in progress), Latino Pentecostals in America: Faith & Politics in Action, Religion, Race & Barack Obama’s New Democratic Pluralism,Religion, Race & the American Presidency, Religion & American Presidency: Washington to Bush, and Latino Religions & Civic Activism in the United States. 

Kenneth P. Miller is the Don H. and Edessa Rose Professor of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College, where he serves as Director of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. Miller’s scholarship focuses on state and local politics, constitutional law, and political polarization. His publications include Texas vs. California: A History of Their Struggle for the Future of America (Oxford 2020), Direct Democracy and the Courts (Cambridge 2009), as well as numerous articles and book chapters on topics including the initiative process, political geography, state constitutionalism, state supreme courts, and voting rights.

Imam Dr. Hadi Qazwini is an Islamic scholar, educator, and community leader with almost 20 years of experience in facilitating religious and spiritual engagement among diverse Muslim and interfaith communities and settings. He has served as an imam and educator in several communities in Southern California and across the country. He has also traveled extensively across the world, providing culturally competent and mindful spiritual and religious education and promoting holistic wellbeing. Imam Dr. Qazwini grew up and attended school in Pomona. During his childhood, he often visited Claremont with his family and enjoyed taking walks in the Village and through the Claremont Colleges campuses. After high school, he started his undergraduate studies at the University of California Irvine, and following his sophomore year, decided to pursue rigorous traditional Islamic studies training in the preeminent seminary (hawza ‘ilmiyya) of Qum, Iran. After spending 6 years (2004-2010) pursuing advanced training in several Islamic studies disciplines such as Quranic studies, theology, philosophy, and law, he returned home and completed his BA in Sociology at UCI (2011). He then came to Claremont, earning his MA in Islamic Studies and Leadership at Claremont School of Theology and Bayan Islamic Graduate School (2014). Finally, Imam Dr. Qazwini earned his PhD in Religion with a focus on Islamic Studies at the University of Southern California (2022). During his PhD career, he worked closely with students at several local university campuses, providing spiritual care and counseling and assisting in developing student-facing programs.

An experienced spiritual counselor, Rabbi Danny Lutz is passionate about community building and working with students to facilitate deep learning and spiritual connection. Rabbi Danny was ordained in the Conservative Movement and is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly. He has served as spiritual leader at Der Nister in Downtown Los Angeles and worked as a spiritual counselor at Beit T’Shuvah, an addiction recovery center in Culver City.  Most recently, he was the Senior Jewish Educator for the University of Guelph Hillel in Ontario, Canada. In addition to providing education and spiritual guidance to the students and staff at Guelph, he facilitated the work of the educator team across Hillel Ontario. Rabbi Danny is also a carpenter and has worked extensively in theatre, as well as teaching woodworking to campers at Ramah Darom, creating beautiful ritual objects. Danny received his Ordination and Master of Arts in Rabbinic Studies from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University in 2020. Rabbi Danny and his wife, Rachel, a genetic counselor, recently relocated to La Verne and are thrilled to be back in California. 

This event is co-sponsored by the CMC Department of Religious Studies.