The John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis has announced its fall 2011 lecture schedule.
Wide-ranging topics include challenges in a post-9/11 world; how American Christians learned to talk about homosexuality; how religion divides and unites; and politics in the pews.
The series begins at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, with Eric L. McDaniel, PhD, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, speaking on “Politics in the Pews: Religious Institutions and Beliefs in American Politics” in Seigle Hall, Room 248.
Later that day, the panel discussion “Navigating a Post-9/11 World: A Decade of Lessons Learned” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Whitaker Hall Auditorium.
Panelists include Sahar E. Aziz, JD, associate professor of law at Texas Wesleyan University and a legal fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding; John R. Bowen, PhD, the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology in Arts & Sciences; and Gulten Ilhan, professor of philosophy at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
The panel will be moderated by R. Marie Griffith, PhD, director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics and the John C. Danforth Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences. Ahmet T. Karamustafa, PhD, professor of history and of religious studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will give opening remarks.
Another highlight of the fall series takes place at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21 in Goldberg Formal Lounge of the Danforth University Center, where, in a welcome reception, Griffith will share her vision for the center’s future.
The remaining lecture series follows. Except where noted, all events will take place in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.
4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27
Mark D. Jordan, PhD, the Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, on “How American Christians Learned to Talk About Homosexuality.”
4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6
Kevin M. Schultz, PhD, assistant professor of history and Catholic studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, on “Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley Jr. and the Civil Friendship That Shaped an Uncivil Decade.”
7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, Graham Chapel
E.J. Dionne Jr., PhD, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, columnist for the Washington Post and professor at Georgetown University, on “Can Religion and Politics Make Us More Civil and Not Just Angry?” This is the series’ keynote address.
4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27
William Charles Inboden, PhD, assistant professor of public affairs in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, on “The Prophetic Conflict: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Second World War.”
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, Graham Chapel
Robert D. Putnam, PhD, the Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, on “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.”
4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17
Sarah Barringer Gordon, PhD, the Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional History and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. Title to be announced.
4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1
Laura R. Olson, PhD, professor of political science at Clemson University, on “The Politics of ‘Spiritual But Not Religious’ America.”
To RSVP and to view an updated event schedule, visit rap.wustl.edu/events.