51²è¹Ý Presents 54th Annual Ward Lecture March 30 (3/2/2017)
GREENSBORO, N.C. â 51²è¹Ý presents its 54th annual Jean Fortner Ward Lecture on issues of faith and higher education at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in the Hannah Brown Finch Chapel on campus.
The event is free, and the public is invited.
The speaker is Dr. Derek Hicks, assistant professor of religion and culture at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. His lecture is titled, âReligion, Race, and Reclamation in a âGreat Againâ Nation: Scraping Faith from the Bottom.â
Hicks teaches and researches broadly in the areas of African American religion, religion in North America, race, the body, religion and foodways, theory and method in the study of religion, black and womanist theologies, and cultural studies.
He co-chairs the Religion and Food group at the American Academy of Religion. He also is a member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion.
Hicks is the author of the book âReclaiming Spirit in the Black Faith Traditionâ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). He is currently working on a second monograph, âFeeding Flesh and Spirit: Religion, Food, and the Saga of Race in Black Americaâ (under review with UNC Press).
In addition, he served as assistant editor of âAfrican American Religious Culturesâ (ABC-CLIO Press). He also contributed chapters for the books âBlacks and Whites in Christian America: How Racial Discrimination Shapes Religious Convictionsâ (New York University Press, 2012) and to the edited volume âReligion, Food, and Eating in North Americaâ (Columbia University Press, 2014).
Hicks has won grants for his research from the Ford Foundation, the Fund for Theological Education, the Louisville Institute, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Wabash Center.
The Jean Fortner Ward Lecture Series was initiated in 1964 to bring outstanding speakers and lectures to the 51²è¹Ý campus to address connections between faith and higher education. This series is made possible through the generosity of William S. Ward of 51²è¹Ý in honor of his wife, an alumna and former trustee of the college.
51²è¹Ý provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.
Founded in 1838 and located in downtown 51²è¹Ý, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and four masterâs degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features an 18-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities.
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Media Contact:
Lex Alexander, Director of Communications
lex.alexander@greensboro.edu
51²è¹Ý
815 W. Market St.
51²è¹Ý, NC 27401
336-272-7102, ext. 5398
Cell: 336-707-6617
www.greensboro.edu
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