Each year, The School of Theology at the University of the South hosts a renowned speaker at its annual DuBose Lectures. These lectures are endowed by an initial gift from Jack C. Graves and substantially increased by Margaret A. Chisholm. The lectures memorialize William Porcher DuBose, second dean of The School of Theology.
This year’s guest lecturer is David Brown, professor of theology, aesthetics, and culture at the University of St.
Andrews. His three lectures will take place over two days,
Oct. 1–2, all in Guerry Auditorium at the University of the South, and are open to the public. On Oct. 1, he will speak first at
9 a.m. and again at
2:45 p.m. On Oct. 2, he will speak at
9 a.m. Directions to the University are available at
visit.sewanee.edu.
Dr. Brown’s lectures will encourage reflection on how the Christian experience of God can be deepened through a wider engagement with the arts. Even though Christianity is commonly described as a religion of the word, Brown feels it is important to remember that God has also provided bodies and senses that range far more widely. Past generations of Christians were often much more aware of such possibilities than we are today. While the lectures will therefore draw on the past, he will make them relevant to life in the contemporary church around the world.
Born in Galashiels in the south of Scotland and educated at the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge, Brown taught for 14 years at Oxford and for 17 years at Durham before becoming professor of theology, aesthetics & culture at the University of St. Andrews in 2007. While in his earlier academic career, his main interest was in relations between theology and philosophy, while more recently focusing on interactions between theology and the arts and culture. This has resulted in a series for five books for Oxford University Press: Tradition and Imagination (1999), Discipleship and Imagination (2000), God and Enchantment of Place(2004), God and Grace of Body (2007) and God and Mystery In Words (2008). He was elected to Britain’s most prestigious body for the humanities in 2002, as a fellow of the British Academy.