FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Author: Savannah Garrick
Media Contact: Maddy Elledge
(706) 379-5319, [email protected]
Dr. Heather Hendershot to Deliver Young Harris College’s Annual Hamilton Lecture
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Author, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and media historian Heather Hendershot, Ph.D., will deliver Young Harris College’s annual Hamilton Lecture on Wednesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. in Hatcher Dining Room of the Rollins Campus Center on the YHC campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Her lecture entitled “Mediating the Sacred and the Profane: William F. Buckley, Firing Line, and Religion” will examine widely known intellectual father of the postwar conservative movement and one of America’s most famous Catholics, William F. Buckley.
Dr. Hendershot argues that few would immediately identify him as a religious figure rather than a political figure. Buckley articulated the philosophy and goals of the conservative movement via three venues: his magazine, National Review; his nationally syndicated column; and his long-running public affairs program Firing Line, the show where the general public most frequently encountered him.
Speaking more as media historian than theologian, Dr. Hendershot will explore both the role that faith played on the program and the complicated ways in which Buckley both engaged with and dodged religious issues—specifically, the issue of religion and politics—on Firing Line. Her talk will include clips showing Buckley’s encounters with figures ranging from Malcolm Muggeridge to Jerry Falwell.
Dr. Hendershot is currently a professor of film and media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the author of “Open to Debate: How William F. Buckley Put Liberal America on the Firing Line.” She received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. She has held fellowships at Harvard University, Princeton University, New York University and Vassar College, and has been a Guggenheim Fellow.
The Hamilton Lecture Series brings outstanding religious spokespersons to YHC to discuss faith-based topics. It was established by Mr. and Mrs. Kirby Strain, along with other members of their family, to honor Mrs. Strain’s parents, Rev. George Wharton Hamilton and Naomi Barton Hamilton. Rev. Hamilton was a 1907 graduate of YHC who served on the College’s faculty and was active as a minister in the North Georgia Conference for 37 years.
For more information about the event, call (706) 379-5323.
About Young Harris College
Young Harris College is a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. The College currently has more than 1,100 students across five divisions—Education, Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., has completed major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth. Recent LEED-certified campus improvements include the 121,000-square-foot Rollins Campus Center, new residence facilities, and a 57,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center. The College is an active member of NCAA Division II and remains a fierce competitor in the prestigious Peach Belt Conference. YHC is among fewer than 300 colleges and universities nationwide named to the 2016-2017 list of Colleges of Distinction and is listed as a “Best National Liberal Arts College” by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit yhc.edu.
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