Upcoming Events
Thank you for a great 2024-2025 season of events! Stay tuned for next year’s slate of events.
2024-2025 Events
“Christianity and Comics”
Blair Davis | March 10, 2015
Comics scholar Blair Davis of DePaul University presented an 80-year history of how comics books have drawn on biblical source material. His latest book, Christianity and Comics: Stories We Tell About Heaven and Hell examines the wide range of approaches taken since the 1940s, from adaptations of Bible stories like Picture Stories From the Bible to titles for Christian bookstores starring Archie and Jughead to modern approaches merging Christian themes and tropes with horror and superhero storytelling like The Sandman, Hellboy, and Preacher. By tracing the history of how comics draw on Christianity, he charts how the medium has both reflected and influenced Americans’ changing attitudes towards religion.
“The Meaning of Life Together: What Are We Trying To Do?”
Reggie Williams | January 21, 2025
Historically, concepts like individualism and exceptionalism have been the seedbed of antagonisms that prohibit healthy life together. The conflicts that pit human vs. human, human vs. plants and animals, human vs. God are histories of domination and authoritarianism that derive from problematic abstract, rather than enabling us to nurture healthy intimacy in concrete life together. Martin Luther King Jr. argued for our realization of the inter-related structure of all reality, in the Beloved Community as remedy to the hyper-individualism that disallows wholesome community life.
“MAGA Bible: How a National Icon became a Partisan Weapon”
Jason von Ehrenkrook | October 17, 2024
Shortly after Donald Trump descended the golden escalator of Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, he inaugurated his presidential campaign by declaring that he alone, and not the feckless politicians in D.C., is able to lead the American people to the “Promised Land” and Make America Great Again™. Thus began his quest for the Oval Office, and thus began the work of scripture as a tool of MAGA propaganda. This talk explored the varied uses of the Christian Bible within the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, tracing the story of the MAGA Bible from its somewhat awkward beginnings to the weaponized “Sword of the Lord” featured in the 2020 and 2024 election cycles. The talk also gives some consideration to how this MAGA Bible fits within the larger story of the reception of scripture within U.S. political contexts.
“Where Faith Meets Fashion: 5 Fascinating Intersections of Christianity and Style”
Lynn S. Neal | September 23, 2024
In this engaging lecture, Neal explores the fascinating ways in which Christianity and fashion intersect. From the alluring depiction of Eve in modern advertising to the symbolic power of Christian t-shirts, explore five remarkable intersections of faith and style. Discover how the awe-inspiring mosaics of Ravenna have graced high fashion runways and delve into the diverse ways in which Christian communities have harnessed the power of clothing to express their beliefs. Through a curated selection of case studies, this lecture illuminates the complex and multifaceted relationship between Christianity and fashion, inviting fresh perspectives on the enduring dialogue between faith and sartorial expression.