The first Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School will lecture at Denison under the sponsorship of the Goodspeed Lecture Series and the Center for Black Studies. Emilie Townes, an ordained American Baptist clergywoman, will speak on "Vanishing into Limbo" at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 28) in the Burton Morgan Lecture Hall. Her talk is free and open to the public.

Townes has been instrumental in constructing "womanist theology," a field of theological and ethical reflection in which the historic and present-day insights of African-American women are brought into critical conversation with the traditions of Christian theology. She also has explored the interrelationship between culture and evil.

Townes has edited two books -- "A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering" and "Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation and Transformation" -- and has written four books -- "Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope," "In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness," "Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Issues and a Womanist Ethic of Care," and her most recent "Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil."

She earned her doctorate in the joint Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Northwestern University program and her doctor of ministry degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. She has taught at Union Theological Seminary as well as at several schools in the Chicago area and was interim minister at the Christ the Redeemer Metropolitan Community Church in Evanston, Ill. In 2008 she will be the first African American woman president of the American Academy of Religion.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- The Goodspeed Lecture Series presents Emilie Townes, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School, speaking on "Vanishing into Limbo"; 4:30 p.m., Wednesday (Feb. 28), Burton Morgan Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Contact 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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