Philip Jenkins To Kick Off Wesleyan University's "The Future of Christianity" Lecture Series

For immediate release: Friday, September 24, 2004

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) – Wesleyan University's "The Future of Christianity," lecture series will kick off with a talk by Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University titled "The Coming of Global Christianity," on Wednesday, September 29th at 4:15 p.m. at the Russell House. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Jenkins is one of a handful of leading international scholars of world Christianity and his most notable of 18 books is, "The Next Christendom: The Rise of Global Christianity," (Oxford, 2002). Jenkins will deliver his public lecture and visit Professor of History Richard Elphick's new course in world Christianity, which focuses on Protestantism from the Reformation to the Religious Right. Jenkins has also written a book on terrorism as well as "The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice," (Oxford, 2003). He also was featured in a cover article on "The Next Christianity" in The Atlantic, October 2002.

This lecture series will directly support ongoing explorations of world Christianity within Christian studies and the History and Religion concentration in the History department.

Other speakers in "The Future of Christianity" lecture series will include, Stanley Hauerwas, professor of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School in February and John de Grunchy, University of Cape Town's Department of Religion and head of the Graduate School of Humanities at this leading African university in April.

This lecture series is sponsored by the Christian Studies cluster with support from the Edward W. Snowdon Fund and the departments of History and Religion. The primary purpose of the Snowdon Lectures is to expand, enrich and enliven intellectual exchange among the various members of the Wesleyan community by bringing internationally renowned and public leaders to campus. Snowdon events should challenge participants to think in new ways and foster the intellectual evolution of the academic community.

For more information, please contact Gene Klaaren, Associate Professor of Religion at
(860) 685-2295 or eklaaren@wesleyan.edu.