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You say you have an interest in religious scholarship and enjoy intellectual stimulation, but lack the time and funds to commit to a semester of university study?

Count your blessings. The experts are coming to you. Beginning this week, three programs--offered by the Los Angeles-based California Museum of Ancient Art, UC Riverside and the Eugene M. Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society at UC San Diego--are bringing scholars from around the world to Southern California. All their lectures are open to the public. And almost all are free.

With a bit of spare time, a freeway map and pin money, an enterprising non-academician can bone up on topics ranging from the ancient origins of Western religions to the role those religions now play in ethnic conflicts around the globe and the hope they offer for peace.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, and continuing on alternate Tuesday evenings through June 6, the fledgling California Museum of Ancient Art will present “Spiritual Ferment in the Ancient Near East” in four lectures at the Gallery Theater in Barnsdall Park in Hollywood. The series focuses on the period 2,000 years ago, which brought dramatic changes to the peoples of the Mediterranean and led to the development of Judaism and Christianity into the two major Western religions.

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The first lecture will be delivered by David Ulansey, who is widely credited with unlocking the secret of Mithraism, an ancient “mystery religion.” A visiting professor of religion at UC Berkeley and professor of philosophy and religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, Ulansey will speak on “The Mithraic Mysteries Unveiled.”

Subsequent lectures will cover the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism, ancient Christian magic, and the origin and development of the concept of the messiah. Barnsdall Park is at 4800 Hollywood Blvd. For a complete schedule, fees and registration information, phone the museum at (818) 762-5500.

A conference on “Religion and Ethnic Conflict” will be held at the Mission Inn in Riverside from 8:30 a.m. Friday through 1 p.m. April 30. The seminar was two years in the making, according to its coordinator, June O’Connor, religious studies chairwoman at UC Riverside.

“From Bosnia to Sri Lanka and South Africa to Ireland,” she said, “ethnic conflicts pock the globe and are continually erupting in hostility and violence. Yet the role religious differences play is often not clearly defined or studied.”

“Even in U.S. cities,” she said, “different ethnic and cultural groups clash--often over economic issues--and religious views often are used to legitimate or mitigate conflict.”

Sponsored by the university’s Humanities Research Institute, its Center for Ideas and Society and its religious studies department, the conference features panels of local experts, as well as national and international scholars who will examine the role of religion in ethnic conflict at home and abroad.

One group will focus on ideology, memory and territoriality; one will take up religion and ethnic conflict in the United States; another will discuss resources for the work of reconciliation.

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All sessions are open to the public without charge, but reservations are recommended. The Mission Inn is at 3649 Seventh St. Obtain a full schedule and information from the Center for Ideas and Society by phone (909) 787-3987 or fax (909) 787-6377.

Each of the three Burke lectures--the first is at 8 p.m. Thursday in Peterson Hall on the Thurgood Marshall Campus of UC San Diego--will feature a speaker explaining his tradition’s yearning for peace and its religious basis for reducing conflict and mistrust.

Founded in memory of Eugene M. Burke, a Catholic priest of the Paulist Order who was closely associated with the university, the free public lecture series is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Thursday’s lecture, “The Crisis of Religion in the Holy Land,” will be delivered by the Rev. Thomas F. Stransky, rector of Tantur, an international ecumenical institute for theological research and pastoral studies near Jerusalem.

On May 4, “Islam and the Dialogue between the Abrahamic Faiths” will be the topic of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. On May 18, philosophy professor Elliot N. Dorff, rector of Rabbinical and masters programs at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, will speak on “Balancing Self-Defense With the Need for Peace.”

For information, (619) 755-6357 or (619) 755-7460.

DATES

* St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its Valley Greek festival the weekend of May 27-29 from 1 to 9 p.m. with continuous Greek music and dancing, authentic homemade cuisine including pastries, and a gift boutique. Afternoon cooking and dance lessons will be offered, as will church tours. The church is at Balboa and Plummer in Northridge. (818) 886-4040.

* The third annual Religious Summit of the Interfaith Coalition to Heal L.A. will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Christ the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. The theme is “Religious Pluralism and Its Impact on Los Angeles.” Speakers include Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, Rabbi Harvey Fields of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, Dr. Maher Hathout of the Islamic Center of Southern California, and the Rev. Cecil Murray of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. The public is invited. Registration, $15, includes lunch. 3303 W. Vernon Ave. (213) 295-4139.

* Nineteen churches and synagogues will join the Burbank Human Relations Council in sponsoring the city’s eighth annual Days of Remembrance service at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday at Calvary Baptist Church. Holocaust concentration camp survivors and liberators will tell their stories during the memorial program. Ministers, priests and rabbis also will take part. The program is free and open to the public. A reception will follow. 1101 S. Main St. (818) 842-3935.

* Pepperdine University’s 52nd annual free Bible lectures will feature the theme “Eternal Truth From an Upper Room” from Tuesday through Friday on the school’s Malibu campus. The Rev. Rubel Shelly will deliver the keynote address at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Author Max Lucado of San Antonio, Tex., will close the event with his presentation, “A Dream Worth Keeping Alive,” at 7 p.m. Friday. More than 200 classes will be taught during the series, including several in Spanish. A dinner honoring G.P. and Olivia Holt for service to the church, Christian education and missions will take place at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. For a complete schedule, phone (310) 456-4270.

* All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena will go all out today with “Bye George: A Grand Celebration . . . by George!” for its retiring rector, the Rev. George Regas. Festivities begin at 4 p.m. with a free street party, followed by a Roast & Toast at 6 p.m. Tickets for the evening event are $10 and limited to the first 1,000 patrons. 132 N. Euclid Ave. (818) 796-1172.

* A Melkite Catholic priest from Jerusalem, the Rev. Elias Chacour, will deliver two lectures at the University of La Verne: “God is Not Christian” at 11 a.m. and “God Does Not Kill” at 7:30 p.m. The priest, who was born in Upper Galilee in 1939, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times. He is the author of “Blood Brothers” and “We Belong to the Land.” 1950 Third St., La Verne. (909) 593-3511, Ext. 4694.

* Central Filipino Church of Seventh-day Adventists in Los Angeles will wind up its third homecoming and anniversary celebration today with a 9 a.m. worship service at which Elder Royce C. Williams, a former missionary to the Philippines, will speak. 777 Colorado Blvd. (213) 255-7718.

* “All for One,” a conference for Native American youth between ages 13 and 20, will be held June 18-23 on the Choctaw Nation Tribal Grounds in Tuskahoma, Okla., sponsored by the Presbyterian Church. May 1 is the registration deadline. For information, phone the Rev. Buddy Monahan at (310) 670-5076.

* Bethel A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles will hold its spring revival at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The Rev. Terence R. Gray, pastor of St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Macon, Ga., will preach. Gray will also speak at the 7:45 a.m. worship service on Men’s Day, April 30. Christian community activist Joseph Moss will speak at the 11 a.m. service that day. 7900 S. Western Avenue. (213) 750-3240.

BRIEFLY

Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles is seeking historical anecdotes for inclusion in its 60th anniversary celebration to be held next month. Persons who have celebrated a bar mitzvah, marriage or other special occasion at the synagogue--especially if they have a special photograph, home movie or other memento to share--are encouraged to phone the synagogue at (310) 652-7353.

Southern California File welcomes submissions by fax to (213) 237-4712 or by mail c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Items must be brief and arrive at least three weeks before the event. Please include a phone number, date, time and full address.