The Future of American Religion
The election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 was heralded by a number of commentators as an awakening to a “post-racial” era in American society. As a Harvard-educated son of an American woman and Kenyan father, Obama seemed to be diversity personified. His call to look beyond “blue states” and “red states” was a call for a new transcultural ideal of America, where Americans would find hope in and be unified by their differences. But Obama’s hopeful hyperbole was matched by hyperbole of a different type. Indeed, traditional American tropes of racism emerged in certain reactions to their new commander-in-chief, yet the main thrust of these negative reactions arose in questions related to Obama’s religious beliefs and religious identity.
Our Speakers
Our speakers for Spring 2012 are:
- Prof. Edward E. Curtis IV (Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis)
- Prof. Bernadette Barton (Morehead State University)
- Michelle Goldberg (Journalist, Newsweek/ DailyBeast.com)
Prof. Edward E. Curtis IV
Prof. Curtis
- Millennium Chair of the Liberal Arts and Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
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Public Talk
"Muslim American Dissent and U.S. Politics Before and After 9/11"
Thurs. February 23 - 5pm
124 War Memorial - Homepage
Prof. Bernadette Barton
Prof. Barton
- Associate Professor of Sociology & Women's Studies at Morehead State University (KY)
- Public Talk
"The Toxic Clost: Homosexuality and Christianity in the Bible Belt"
Mon. March 26 - 6pm
108 Surge
PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME & LOCATION - Homepage
Michelle Goldberg
Ms. Goldberg
- Author and senior contributing writer for The Daily Beast/ Newsweek.
- Public Talk
"Christian Nationalism and the 2012 Election"
Tues. April 10 - 6pm
108 Surge
PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME & LOCATION - Homepage