Burke Lecture

10/02/2026

🎬 Burke Revival Film & Discussion Series returns for Season 4

What happens when a society feels fractured, and individuals struggle to find meaning within it?

On Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m., the Burke Revival Film & Discussion Series opens its fourth season with Martin Scorsese's landmark film Taxi Driver, marking the film’s 50th anniversary.

Curator Rev. Scott Young describes Taxi Driver as a film that emerged from the urban anxiety of post-Vietnam America, the moral upheaval of the post-Watergate era, and a culture searching for its way forward. Fifty years later, he suggests, the film remains strikingly relevant in the questions it raises about alienation, moral identity, and the search for larger meaning.

That idea anchors Season 4, Chasing the Sacred, a three-film exploration of belief, conscience, and moral identity through landmark cinema.

“It is cinema at its most immersive... a film that continues to transport us—not only into the past, but through its perennially prescient vision of the future.”

Join Rev. Scott Young after the screening for a guided discussion exploring the questions Taxi Driver continues to raise about isolation, conscience, violence, and the search for meaning in a fractured world.

📅 Thursday, October 22, 2026
🕖 7:00 p.m.
📍 Digital Gym Cinema
🎟️ $9 general admission | $6 Burke Members

Presented by the Burke Lectureship on Religion & Society and UC San Diego Extended Studies, in partnership with Digital Gym Cinema.

07/07/2026

Throughout its history, the Burke Lectureship has invited our community into conversations that explore the questions at the heart of the human experience. Questions of meaning. Character. Faith. Responsibility. Forgiveness. Hope. These conversations rarely offer simple answers, but they remind us that education is also an invitation to deeper reflection.

Next week, UC San Diego welcomes author, pastor, and speaker Jolinda Wade for the inaugural Earl W. Edwards Lectureship on Athletics and Society. While the lectureship is rooted in Earl Edwards' enduring vision of the scholar-athlete, it also reflects his conviction that education and athletics are ultimately about developing the whole person. Excellence is measured not only by achievement, but by integrity, resilience, compassion, and a lifelong commitment to growth and service.

Jolinda Wade's memoir, Conquering Me, offers an honest meditation on redemption, the courage to confront one's own failures, and the belief that no life is beyond the reach of transformation. Her story invites us to look beyond labels, to recognize the inherent dignity of every person, and to consider how grace, community, and hope can reshape a life. We are grateful that voices exploring these enduring questions continue to find a place within UC San Diego's broader tradition of public dialogue, and we encourage our community to take part in the conversation.

Join us for the UC San Diego Earl W. Edwards Lectureship on Athletics and Society featuring Jolinda Wade, author, speaker and advocate whose work explores the intersection of sports, leadership and social impact.

Drawing from her life journey, Ms. Wade will share a powerful story of resilience, recovery, faith and personal growth while reflecting on the roles of mentorship, education, athletics and community in helping people overcome adversity and realize their potential.

Learn more and reserve your spot today >> https://bit.ly/4yk0ju7

UC San Diego Alumni UC San Diego Triton Athletics

03/18/2026

For over 40 years, the Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society has brought our community together to explore the big questions shaping our shared future. These conversations connect global challenges to the choices we make as individuals, institutions, and communities.

This year, we are honored to welcome Bill McKibben. He will share his perspectives on the urgent climate challenges we face, the real momentum behind clean energy, and how communities and institutions can act with purpose to create meaningful change.

Moderating the conversation will be Marco Werman, award-winning journalist and host of The World, a co-production of WGBH Boston and PRX that connects audiences to global news and stories.

What makes this dialogue compelling is how it moves beyond abstract warnings. It invites reflection, challenges assumptions, and highlights how collective action can create tangible impact.

Join us for this thought-provoking conversation and be part of a lecture that has, for over four decades, inspired reflection, action, and hope.

02/12/2026

🎬 Burke Revival Film Series | Next Screening: The Master

Control. Charisma. The search for meaning.

Join us for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master — a gripping, psychologically charged film that explores how authority takes hold in intimate and spiritual spaces, and why we’re drawn to it.

📅 Wednesday, February 25
📍 Digital Gym Cinema at UC San Diego Park & Market
🎟 + post-film discussion with Rev. Scott Young

Part of Season 3: Authoritarianism in Full Cinematic View. Come watch, reflect, and join the conversation.

10/08/2025

🎬 Burke Revival Film & Discussion Series – Season 3 Returns!

UC San Diego Extended StudiesUC and the Burke Lectureship, in partnership with Digital Gym Cinema, proudly present Season 3: “Authoritarianism in Full Cinematic View.” Join us for three thought-provoking films exploring power, control, and resistance, each followed by a guided discussion with Rev. Scott Young.

Season 3 Lineup at Digital Gym Cinema, UC San Diego Park & Market:
• Pan’s Labyrinth (Oct 16, 2025) – A dark fairy tale of innocence and authoritarian brutality.
• The Master (Feb 26, 2026) – A study of charisma, control, and spiritual longing.
• Brazil (May 28, 2026) – A surreal satire on bureaucracy, surveillance, and freedom.

This series invites audiences to reflect on how cinema illuminates oppression—and inspires resistance.

Innocence has a power evil cannot imagine.

02/17/2025

The Burke Lectureship Revival Film Screening & Discussion Series will feature “Pulp Fiction” on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Digital Gym Cinema at UC San Diego Park & Market.

Join the screening and analyze its exploration of redemption and change in a post-film discussion led by Rev. Scott Young.

Get your tickets >> https://bit.ly/3Q1SzIf

You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction.

10/22/2024

10/14/2024

Coming up tomorrow night at UCSD: David Hogg, gun violence prevention activist will be presenting the Burke Lecture. 6 pm at the Jeannie Auditorium,10/15.

David Hogg, co-founder of March For Our Lives and Leaders We Deserve, is a leading voice in the movement to end gun violence. After experiencing the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Hogg emerged from tragedy to become a national figure, advocating for morally just leadership and increased voter participation. A New York Times bestselling author, Hogg has spoken at major demonstrations and across the country, pushing for civic engagement and change. His work continues to inspire young progressives and promote activism for a safer, more equitable future.

The Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society is honored to host David Hogg at The Jeannie Auditorium. This event will offer an engaging discussion on activism, gun violence, and societal change, featuring Hogg in conversation with Professor Richard Madsen. As the author of " : A New Generation Draws the Line," Hogg brings unique insights from his leadership in the 2018 gun violence protests and his ongoing advocacy for social justice.

The Burke Lectureship hosts David Miles Hogg an American Gun Violence Prevention Activist on October 15, at the Jeannie.

10/14/2024

Don't forget! Tomorrow (Tuesday 10/15) night is the fall Burke Lecture on Religion and Society featuring gun violence prevention activist David Miles Hogg, co-founder of March For Our Lives and Leaders We Deserve. After experiencing the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Hogg emerged from tragedy to become a national figure, advocating for morally just leadership and increased voter participation. A New York Times bestselling author, Hogg has spoken at major demonstrations and across the country, pushing for civic engagement and change. His work continues to inspire young progressives and promote activism for a safer, more equitable future.

The Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society is honored to host David Hogg at The Jeannie Auditorium at 6 pm on Oct 15. This event will offer an engaging discussion on activism, gun violence, and societal change, featuring Hogg in conversation with Professor Richard Madsen. As the author of " : A New Generation Draws the Line," Hogg brings unique insights from his leadership in the 2018 gun violence protests and his ongoing advocacy for social justice.

The Burke Lectureship hosts David Miles Hogg an American Gun Violence Prevention Activist on October 15, at the Jeannie.