School prayer issue highlighted with film, discussion at CNU
News Release - September 1, 2005
contact:
Karen L. Gill
karen.gill@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8428
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Caption: Slawomir Grünberg will speak Oct. 18 at Christopher Newport University following a screening of his film, “School Prayer: A Community at War.” |
(NEWPORT NEWS, VA) — Emmy-award-winning director Slawomir Grünberg will speak following the screening of his film, “School Prayer: A Community at War” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 in the Ferguson Center for the Arts Music and Theatre Hall on the campus of Christopher Newport University.
The event is free and open to the public as part of the Dean William Parks Colloquium.
“School Prayer: A Community at War” documents the struggle of Lisa Herdahl, a Mississippi mother of six, as she sued her local school district to remove religious symbols and activities from her children’s public school. The film premiered on PBS in 1999 and received an Emmy award in 2000 for Outstanding Coverage of a Continuous News Story. It also received several other awards including Best of Festival at the Hope and Dreams Festival in 1999.
“ ‘School Prayer’ is so fair to both sides, it actually might help them find some common ground,” says a review from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, in reference to the continuing controversy over the Supreme Court’s 1962 ruling that school-sanctioned prayers and devotional Bible readings in public school classrooms are unconstitutional.
Grünberg is a documentary producer, director, cameraman, and editor born in Lublin, Poland. He is a graduate of the Polish Film School in Lodz, where he studied cinematography and directing. He emigrated from Poland to the United States in 1981 and has directed and produced more than 40 television documentaries.
For additional information, contact Rick Sherwin at rsherwin@cnu.edu.
Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.