George Marsden to Give Annual Simon Lecture

George Marsden, the McAnaney Professor Emeritus of History at Notre Dame, and the author of many important books on American religious history, will deliver the second annual William E. and Carol G. Simon Lecture on Religion and American Public Life, at Princeton University on Wednesday, October 1.  His lecture, titled “Beyond Liberalism and the Culture Wars: Principled Pluralism,” will be at 4:30 p.m. in McCormick Hall 101.  The lecture, co-sponsored by the Witherspoon Institute, the James Madison Program at Princeton University, and the university’s American Studies program, is open to the public.

Drawing on his recent book, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment: The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief,  Professor Marsden will reflect on what we might learn from some of the cultural developments of the past sixty years. In particular, in light of the breakdown of mid-twentieth century attempts to build an inclusive liberal consensus and then the standoffs of later cultural wars, is there a way to cultivate a pluralism that is civilly inclusive not only of various secular outlooks but also of varieties of religious perspectives, including the more traditional? 

We hope First Things readers will attend!