Jim Dekker Memorial Just Peace Lecture: 'Death Makes Life Possible'

Sparked by her own near-death experience as a teenager, cultural anthropologist and scientist Marilyn Schlitz has been delving into the nature of consciousness and death for three decades. In the new documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, a collaboration with author Deepak Chopra, she explores the mysteries of life and death from a variety of perspectives and world traditions. Interviews with mental health experts, cultural leaders and scientists search out the meaning of death and how understanding our mortality makes life possible.

Following a screening of the hour-long film, Schlitz will discuss its themes with the audience and answer questions. A researcher, writer and leader in the field of consciousness studies, Schlitz is the founder and CEO of Worldview Enterprises and president emeritus of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Her extensive publications focus on personal and social transformation, cultural pluralism, extended human capacities and mind-body medicine. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Admission is free. Sponsored by the Religion Department and the United Church of Christ of Simi Valley, which established the Memorial Just Peace Lecture Series in 2008 in honor of the late James Henry Dekker and his work for peace and justice.