David Nirenberg, a professor and dean at the University of Chicago, will deliver the 33rd annual Loy H. Witherspoon Lecture in Religious Studies on Monday, Feb. 6, at UNC Charlotte Center City.
This year’s lecture, “Neighboring Faiths: Jews, Christians and Muslims,” will examine how Jewish, Christian and Islamic societies have interacted with and thought about each other from their origins to present day.
Nirenberg is the Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta Distinguished Service Professor of Social Thought and History and dean of the Social Sciences Division at the University of Chicago. In his work “Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today,” Nirenberg explores how Muslims, Christians and Jews lived with and thought about each other during the Middle Ages and what the medieval past can tell about how they do so today. His other works include “Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages” and “Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition.”
A reception will be held at 6 p.m., followed by the lecture at 7 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City. The Witherspoon Lecture is open to the public without charge, but RSVPs are requested by email to JennaCBaker@uncc.edu or call (704) 687-5187.
Complimentary parking is available with a special permit in the lot at 422 E. 9th St., directly across Brevard from UNC Charlotte Center City. Instructions for obtaining a permit will be sent to those who RSVP before the lecture.
The Witherspoon Lecture in Religious Studies, the oldest and most prestigious endowed lecture series at UNC Charlotte, was established in 1984 to honor the distinguished career and service of its namesake, who was the first chair of the Department of Religious Studies in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at UNC Charlotte. Witherspoon was professor emeritus of philosophy and religion when he died Jan. 15, 2017.