You Tube Theology

Dr. Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School. In this lecture, he will address the relationship between race, violence, and faith in America. He will begin by outlining what he call "the form of racial faith" that operates in the American collective consciousness. Dr. Jennings' hope is to suggest pragmatic ways that teachers and a university can shape their work to push agains the racial faith that fuels the racial animus of this country. Dr. Jennings' book, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (202), examines the relationship between Christianity and segregation and racism throughout American history. In particular, he addresses the question, "Why has Christianity, a religion based on love, failed in its attempts to heal racial division?" He received the Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his work. This award is co-presented by the University of Louisville and the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and honors "ideas rather than life-long or personal achievement." This event, which includes a faculty workshop on Friday, March 20th, is also sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Office for Institutional Diversity, the Departments of History, Philosophy, Political Science, Secondary Education, and Theology, and the Programs in Black Studies and Humanities.