October 12, 2015

EVENT

Stacey Floyd-Thomas to deliver Williams Institute lectures

Vanderbilt University faculty member Stacey Floyd-Thomas will deliver two Williams Institute lectures on womanist social ethics at Methodist Theological School in Ohio in November. She will speak at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 and 10 a.m. Nov. 4 in the Alford Centrum on the MTSO campus, 3081 Columbus Pike in Delaware. In addition, she will lead a community conversation in the Alford Centrum at 1 p.m. Nov. 4. The events are free and open to the public. No registration is required.

The Nov. 3 lecture is titled "Seen but not Heard: Living at the Intersections of the Color Line, Culture Wars and Complex Subjectivity." The Nov. 4 lecture is "Hidden in Plain Sight: The Growing Edge of Womanist Ethics." Among the issues confronting U.S. society is the generational divide, which tends to deem the younger generation and underrepresented people “a problem.” Key within this development is the moral conflict that has resulted from the separation of concerns for race, religion and education from the aims of justice and social change.

Drawing attention to the ongoing culture wars, Floyd-Thomas's lectures will address this shortcoming through a critical examination of universal principles, institutional will and individual ability in society’s quest for the development of complex subjectivity amidst social crisis. A sought-after speaker and author, Floyd-Thomas is associate professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences. She is executive director of both the Society of Christian Ethics and the Black Religious Scholars Group and is co-founder of the Society for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Religion. Floyd-Thomas's research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of ethics, feminist and womanist studies, black church studies, critical pedagogy, critical race theory, and post-colonial studies. Her approach to the study of Christian social ethics engages broad questions of moral agency, cultural memory, ethical responsibility and social justice.

Floyd-Thomas is the author or co-author of six books, including Mining the Motherlode: Methods in Womanist Ethics. She is a recipient of the Texas Christian University Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar and the American Academy of Religion Excellence in Teaching Award. She holds a doctorate and Master of Arts degree from Temple University, a Master of Theological Studies from Emory University and a B.A. from Vassar College.

MTSO’s Williams Institute was begun in 1981 to honor the late Dr. Ronald L. Williams, professor of theology from 1971 until his death in 1981. The institute has featured speakers from many backgrounds, including theologians, ethicists, poets, biblical scholars, historians, pastoral psychologists and Christian educators.

Methodist Theological School in Ohio prepares leaders of many faith traditions for lives of lasting significance in service to the church and the world. In addition to the Master of Divinity degree, the school offers master’s degrees in counseling ministries, theological studies and practical theology, along with a Doctor of Ministry degree. 

CONTACT: Danny Russell, director of communications
drussell@mtso.edu, 740-362-3322