In this talk, Juliane Hammer, professor of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, offers insights into historical, religious, cultural, and political dimensions of the lives of the diverse Muslim communities that are part of the fabric of American society. Based on over 20 years of research in Muslim community settings and her own experiences as an American Muslim woman, scholar, and activist for gender justice, Dr. Hammer brings a unique perspective to this lecture and an invitation to be friends and neighbors with American Muslims.

Juliane Hammer (she/her) is professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in the study of gender and sexuality in Muslim societies and communities, race and gender in US Muslim communities, as well as contemporary Muslim thought, activism and practice. She is the author of three monographs: Peaceful Families: American Muslim Efforts against Domestic Violence (Princeton, 2019); American Muslim Women, Religious Authority, and Activism: More Than a Prayer (Austin, TX, 2012), and Palestinians Born in Exile: Diaspora and the Search for a Homeland (Austin, TX, 2005). She is also the co-editor of A Jihad for Justice: The Work and Life of Amina Wadud (with Kecia Ali and Laury Silvers, 2012); the Cambridge Companion to American Islam (with Omid Safi, 2013), and Muslim Women and Gender Justice: Concepts, Sources, and Histories (with Dina El Omari and Mouhannad Khorchide, 2020), and Sexual Violence in Muslim Communities: Towards Awareness and Accountability (with Samah Choudhury, 2024).

Christian congregations have been singing hymns since the days of the Protestant Reformation, and many of the sacred songs dearest to our hearts have been around for hundreds of years.  But we worship today in a context of rapid change, and to remain relevant, hymnody must undertake changes of its own.  New challenges for hymnwriters include topics like the richness of multifaith communities; the complexities of racial and gender justice; the insights of modern science; the meaningful lives of other-than-human animals; and the threat of environmental crisis to us all.  This talk offers a peek behind the curtain at how a contemporary hymn poet (and hymnal editor) addresses such issues, along with the opportunity to sing a sampling of new songs. 

Mary Louise (Mel) Bringle is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies and coordinator of the Integrated Studies major at Brevard College in Brevard, NC.  The winner of several international hymnwriting competitions, her original texts and translations are included in hymnals and supplements of numerous denominations in North America and the United Kingdom.  She has served as President of The Hymn Society and chair of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song, responsible for creating the 2013 PCUSA hymnal Glory to God. In the summer of 2020, she was named a Fellow of the Hymn Society, the highest honor conferred by that organization.

eplore the rich and multifaceted relationships between Jewish and Islamic communities in the medieval Middle East. This lecture delves into the cultural, economic, and intellectual exchanges that flourished during coexistence, as well as the challenges and tensions that shaped their interactions. From shared traditions and trade networks to theological dialogues and legal frameworks, uncover the complexities of a pivotal era that influenced the course of history for both faiths. 

Morrey Davis moved to Brevard in 1980 from Zambia, where his parents were Wesleyan missionaries. A Brevard High graduate, he received his BA in History at Houghton College and his PhD from Drew University. A historian of religion, he was Associate Professor of the History of Christianity at Drew Theological School and the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies from 2003–2020. From 2011–2014 he served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Drew, and was also a Visiting Professor at Yale Divinity School from 2014–2019. He is the author of The Methodist Unification: Christianity and the Politics of Race in the Jim Crow Era (New York University Press, 2009), and has lectured and published widely, primarily on the topic of race and Christianity. He and his wife Cara Bradshaw moved back to Brevard in 2020, and he now teaches at Brevard High School.