The Goodspeed Lecture Series will host speaker Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University's Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Sociology and director of Princeton's Center for the Study of Religion. Wuthnow has conducted path-breaking research on diverse facets of American religion including economics, politics, arts, and psychology. In his convocation, entitled "Responding to America's New Religious Diversity," Wuthnow will discuss the extent of American religious diversity and how society confronts it in a post 9-11 America that has increased respect for the potency of religion. Set for 7:30 p.m., Tuesday (Feb. 11) in Slayter Auditorium, this event is free and open to the public.

Wuthnow has published numerous articles and written or contributed to 22 books, includingLoose Connections: Joining Together in America's Fragmented Communities; After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s; andActs of Compassion: Caring for Others and Helping Ourselvesfor which he received a 1991 Pulitzer Prize nomination.

A 1968summa cum laudegraduate of the University of Kansas, Wuthnow went on to earn a doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975. Wuthnow serves as the president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and chairs several other notable sociological and religious associations. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals such asContexts: A Journal of the American Sociological Association, andJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion. He has served as principal investigator for numerous studies funded by the Lilly Endowment, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Ford Foundation among others.

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.

For press inquiries:

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Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

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(740) 587-8575