Yale Professor to Give Gates and Convocation Lectures

Published:

September 24, 2018

Kathryn Loftin

Sept. 26-27, 2018

Kathryn Lofton, professor of American studies, religious studies, history, and divinity at Yale University, will present the Gates Lecture at Grinnell College on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The event, which is free and open to the public, will start at 7:30 p.m. in Room 1023 of the Noyce Science Center, 1116 Eighth Ave., Grinnell.

The lecture is titled “Consuming Religion: How Ivory Soap, Kim Kardashian, and Goldman Sachs Explain This Modern Age.” Gates Lectures were established in 1913 in memory of the College's second president, George A. Gates, who served from 1887-1900.

On Thursday, Sept. 27, Lofton will present the first Scholar’s Convocation Lecture of the fall semester. A historian of religion, Lofton has written extensively about capitalism, celebrity, sexuality, and the concept of the secular. Her convocation lecture is titled “The Present Life of Blasphemy: Kanye West in American Popular Culture.” She will examine the career of the American rapper, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer as an instance in the long history of blasphemy.

For nearly four decades, the Scholars’ Convocation series has created a common educational experience shared by the entire Grinnell College community. Three more Convocation Lectures will be presented during the fall semester.

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations.

The College welcomes the presence of minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child’s safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases the College expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child’s safety and sees that the child complies with directions of College personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.

Tagged as

Religious Studies