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Previous events

Annual Dallas A. Willard Lecture

Click here to see previous Willard Lectures. 

  • Oct. 3, 2025 – Molly Worthen (University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill), Peculiar Stories of the Holy Ghost, Charisma in American Politics
  • Oct. 4, 2024 – Rebecca DeYoung (Calvin University), Making Sense of Your (Whole) Moral Self: A Response to Contemporary Ethical Theories 

Academics for the Church Workshops

The Lumen Center’s annual practical gathering to better equip scholars to reach church audiences through public scholarship.

  • May 22, 2025 – Jon Boyd (IVP Academic Press) & Nadya Williams (Mere Orthodoxy), “Writing for General Christian Audiences: A Workshop for Christian Academics”

Research Lunches

The Lumen Center’s regular monthly gathering, open to the public, to discuss ongoing scholarly work by members of our community at the intersection of Christianity and culture.

  • Oct 9, 2025 – Devin White (Lumen Center), “The Implications 1 Corinthians for Engaging the Rightward ‘Vibe Shift’ in Congregational Life Today”
  • Sept 18, 2025 – John Fea (Lumen Center), Roads Not Taken: Evangelical and Politics at the Turn of the 21st Century
  • Aug 21, 2025 – John Terrill (SL Brown Foundation): lessons from Chautauqua for the future of Christian higher education
  • May 15, 2025 – Scott Cairns: the poetic operation of language
  • Apr 10, 2025 – Sam Gee (University of Chicago): the problem of “inheritance" in early American Christian theology
  • Mar 6, 2025 – Dan Hummel (Lumen Center): Magaret Fishback Powers and “Footprints in the Sand”
  • Feb 6, 2025 – Noah Toly (Calvin University): Ralph Waldo Emerson and the vocation of a Christian scholar
  • Dec 12, 2024 – Cassandra Nelson (Lumen Center), Selected Stories of Betty Wahl
  • Nov 19, 2024 – Devin White (Lumen Center), Christ Reads in Me
  • Oct 15, 2024 – Eric Carlsson (SL Brown Foundation), "Demonology, Anti-Judaism, and the Construction of ‘Liberal Theology’ in the German Enlightenment: The Case of Johann Salomo Semler."
  • Sept 12, 2024 – Tony Bolos (Lumen Center): can we use science to help interpret divine revelation?

Lumen Society Events

Special gatherings for Lumen Society members: those in the Madison area interested in thoughtful conversations with local and national experts on Christian culture. Join the Lumen Society here.

  • Nov 6, 2025 – Chris James (University of Dubuque Theological Seminary), “What is God Doing (Here and Now)?”
  • Oct 3, 2025 – Molly Worthen (University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill), “A Conversation on Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump”
  • Mar 15, 2025 – Karen Swallow Prior, “Why Walt Whitman Called America the ‘Greatest Poem’”
  • Jan 31, 2025 – Ann Snyder (Comment magazine), “Christian Humanism: A Lumen Center Response”
  • Dec 6, 2024 – Cassandra Nelson (Lumen Fellow), A Theology of Fiction book launch
  • Oct 4, 2024 – Rebecca DeYoung (Calvin University), “Moral Education in the Classroom: A Lived Experiment”
  • Feb 7, 2024 – Miroslav Volf (Yale University), “What does the university have to do with the good life?”
  • Nov 28, 2024 – Jeannine Brown & John Anthony Dunne (Bethel Theological Seminary), “The Greatest Story Ever Retold: Envisioning Jesus Narratives from Gospels to Film”

Friday Night Lectures

The following Friday Night Lectures at Upper House have been delivered by Lumen Fellows, in partnership with Upper House Commons.

  • Nov 14, 2025 – John Fea, “Was American Founded as a Christian Nation?”
  • Feb 14, 2025 – Cassandra Nelson, “Can Good Fiction Deliver What Technology Can’t?”
  • Nov 15, 2024 – Devin White, “Can Ancient Christians Teach us Anything about the Bible?”
  • Nov 3, 2023 – Dan Hummel, “What’s so Unique about American Christianity?”
  • Sept 15, 2023 – Tony Bolos, “What’s the Fundamental Conflict between Christianity and Science?”

Reading Groups & Learning Cohorts

Extended (multi-meeting) groups hosted by Lumen Fellows, in partnership with Upper House Commons.

  • Fall 2025 – What Is the Purpose of Higher Education?: A Discussion Group (Dan Hummel)
  • Fall 2025 – Reading a Modern Classic: The Divine Dramatist by Harry Stout (John Fea)
  • Fall 2025 – Reading a New Release: Spellbound by Molly Worthen (Dan Hummel)
  • Summer 2025 – Reading a Modern Classic: Paul and the Power of Grace by John Barclay (Gar Anderson)
  • Spring 2025 – Picturing the Good Through Recent American Fiction (Cassandra Nelson)
  • Spring 2025 – Mining Ancient Monastic Practices for Today (Devin White)
  • Fall 2024 – Science, the Endless Frontier (Rick Lindroth)
  • Summer 2024 – Reading a Modern Classic: After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre (Tony Bolos)
  • Summer 2023 – Reading a Modern Classic: A Secular Age by Charles Taylor (Matthew Farrelly, UW-Madison)

The UpWords Podcast

(in partnership with SLBF Studio)

Hosted by Dan Hummel
Other Lumen Fellows

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