Tonight (2/28): Jeff Sharlet at UT

Kelly Baker

Tonight, University of Tennessee's Religious Studies Department is hosting Jeff Sharlet, author of Sweet Heaven When I Die, which I blogged about previously. The event is at 7 pm EST at Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building on campus. I've included the press release in this post.

For those not in Tennessee, some of my students and I (@kelly_j_baker) will be live-tweeting Jeff's talk, "The Noise of Democracy: Faith, Faithlessness, and the Country In Between" under the hashtag (#sharletUT). Please feel free to follow our tweets and join in conversation about this event.

Leading Author on American Religion to Speak at UT Feb. 28

KNOXVILLE — Author and professor Jeff Sharlet will discuss the intersection of religion and politics in America at the second annual David L. Dungan Memorial Lecture at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Cox Auditorium of the Alumni Memorial Building at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Sharlet's lecture is titled "The Noise of Democracy: Faith, Faithlessness, and the Country In Between," and is presented by UT's Department of Religious Studies.

"It is an honor to have Jeff Sharlet speak on campus," said Rosalind Hackett, department head of Religious Studies. "Jeff is a major voice in discussions about religion in the public sphere."

Sharlet, who teaches creative nonfiction at Dartmouth College and is a contributing editor to Rolling Stone and Harper's, will discuss what he describes as the "cacophony choir" of religion in the United States and the tension between the American belief in the liberty of conscience and the problem of its practice.

"The sound of democracy isn't perfect harmony but cacophony, many voices together and apart," Sharlet writes.

Sharlet is the author of the best-selling book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, an expose of a secretive Christian community in Washington, D.C., that ministers specifically to members of Congress. His latest book of essays is titled Sweet Heaven When I Die.

After the presentation, Sharlet will participate in a question-and-answer session, and a reception and book signing will follow.

Both events are free and open to the public. Public parking is available in the University Center parking garage.

Sponsors include the Department of English and the UT Issues Committee.