The Denison University Goodspeed Lecture Series will open the new academic year with a convocation featuring Michigan State professor of sociology and religious studies Jualynne Dodson at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday (Sept. 21) in Burton Morgan Lecture Hall. Her lecture is titled "Sacred Spaces: Afro-Cuban Religious Traditions Today." Admission is free and open to the public.

A native of Pensacola, Fla., Dodson spent her formative years immersed in African American Geechee culture. She has conducted research about numerous facets of African American religious communities and has studied Africa-based religions in eastern Cuba for more than 15 years. In the convocation, Dodson will share some images and ideas from her forthcoming book,Sacred Spaces: Socio-historical View of Religious Traditions in Oriente, Cuba.

Dodson earned a doctoral degree in sociology from the University of California-Berkeley and has taught Yale University and the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has also served as Dean of Seminary Life at Union Theological Seminary and is director and founder of the African Atlantic Research Team at Michigan State University.

Dodson has had numerous books, chapters and scholarly articles published in the United States and internationally for the past 20 years. Recently, she served as executive scholar producer of a video/film documentary on family, race relations, and southern culture, "Shared History," which was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

CALENDAR INFORMATION: Denison University,The Denison Goodspeed Lecture Series will open the new academic year with a convocation featuring Michigan State sociology and religious studies professor Jualynne Dodson who will speak on "Sacred Spaces: Afro Cuban Religious Traditions Today"; 7:30 p.m., Wednesday (Sept. 21) in Burton Morgan Lecture Hall. Free and open to the public. Call (740) 587-6241 to confirm information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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