Distinguished Lecture in Religious Studies
The Distinguished Lecture in Religious Studies is an annual lecture that brings some of the exciting new scholarship in the field to our campus and community.
2025 Lecture – Tracey Hucks
Tracey Hucks
Victor S. Thomas Professor of Africana Religious Studies
Suzanne Young Murray Professor (Radcliff Institute for Advanced Study)
Harvard Divinity School
“The Principle Creation that Brought Us Over: James Baldwin on Religion, Race, and Love”
In-person or virtually
February 6, 2026 at 6pm
John C Hodges Library, Auditorium
2024 Lecture – Carol Wayne White
Carol Wayne White
Presidential Professor of Philosophy of Religion
Bucknell University
“A Poetics of Nature: Religious Naturalism, Multiplicities, and Affinities”
Talk held February 29, 2024
2023 Lecture – Todne Thomas
Todne Thomas
Associate Professor of African-American Religious Studies
Harvard Divinity School
“A Black Church Burned: Sanctuary, Loss, and Place-Making in Knoxville”
Talk held February 16, 2023
2022 Lecture – Marla Fredrick
Marla Frederick
Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture
Emory University, Candler School of Theology
“The Schools of Former Slaves and the Schools of Former Slave Owners: Religion, Race, and the Struggle for Education”
Talk held February 10, 2022 5:30pm
