This program will be held virtually on Zoom. Please register for free in advance here.
NOTE: You can also watch a live stream of the program on the Newberry Facebook page or YouTube channel.
In this illustrated lecture, historian Douglas Winiarski will explore the varied ways in which the people called "New Lights”—progenitors of today’s evangelical Protestants—resolved perplexing mind-body problems associated with their transformative conversion experiences. Winiarski will use engaging stories featuring an eclectic cast of religious radicals—hailing from New England and Maritime Canada to the trans-Appalachian west—to reveal how the transatlantic evangelical awakening of the 18th century fueled controversies over marriage, the family, sexuality, and the body.
About the Speaker:
Douglas Winiarski is professor of religious studies and American studies at the University of Richmond. His first book, Darkness Falls on the Land of Light: Experiencing Religious Awakenings in Eighteenth-Century New England, was awarded the 2018 Bancroft Prize.
The Colonial History Lecture Series is cosponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Illinois in partnership with the History Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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