Thursday, February 19, 11:55 a.m.
Houston Hall, the Golkin Room (room #223)
(a light buffet lunch will be served at 11:55)
When Abraham Lincoln enacted the emancipation of American slaves, was he inspired by profound religious and moral convictions or was he moved by secular, political pragmatism and by pressure from abolitionists that he did not agree with? Why did he absorb criticism from rebels and abolitionists alike? What mattered most to Lincoln, the plight of the slaves or the preservation of the Union? One week after Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Lucas Morel will address some of these issues which have arisen in recent years and welcome your questions. An emerging leader in Lincoln scholarship, Morel will give a similar address this April at the U.S. Supreme Court, as one of his many Lincoln Bicentennial duties.
Dr. Lucas Morel is Associate Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA) and a Garwood Visiting Fellow at Princeton University (2008-2009). He is a member of the scholarly advisory committee of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and a trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society. Morel is author of Lincoln’s Sacred Effort: Defining Religion’s Role in American Self-Government and editor of Ralph Ellison and the Raft of Hope: A Political Companion to “Invisible Man.” Morel holds a Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate School, of California.
Sponsored by The Office of the Chaplain's Franklin-Whitefield Dialogues on Religion and The Penn Faculty-Staff Christian Forum
The Franklin-Whitefield Dialogues on Religion aim to bring cutting edge thinkers and inspiring leaders to this historic campus to engage students, faculty and staff around issues related to religion and spirituality in contemporary society. In the tradition of the legendary discourse between Dr. Benjamin Franklin and Rev. George Whitefield occurring around the time of the founding of Penn, the Office of the Chaplain invites scholars and leaders from outside our campus community to speak on matters of Faith and Culture.
The Penn Faculty-Staff Christian Forum provides an open forum for faculty and staff to engage one another in life’s hardest questions, examining these issues through the hopeful lens of a Christian world-and-life view. This guest lecture follows an 18 year tradition of hosting recognized academics to address faculty luncheons and campus-wide Veritas Forums. These began with a focus on the unique concerns of faculty and staff and have developed into campus-wide forums for scholars, both younger and older.