Religious scholar Steven Tipton to speak about religion, public life

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Nov. 5, 2007) -- Religious scholar Steven M. Tipton will discuss the role of religion in shaping American politics and public life during a speech at the University of Oregon on Monday, Nov. 19.

The Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics is sponsoring the free public event at 7 p.m. in Room 175, William W. Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

Tipton's speech on "Public Pulpits: Religion in the Moral Argument of Public Life," will address the tension between government and the growing number of religious institutions pursuing politicized moral advocacy.

Tipton teaches sociology, religion and ethics at Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, where he is a professor of sociology of religion. A graduate of Harvard University, he is the author of "Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life," a study of national religious advocacy by the mainline churches, which will be released by the University of Chicago Press in early 2008.

A reception and book signing in the Knight Law Center's Morse Commons will follow the lecture.

For more information or directions to the event, contact the Wayne Morse center, 541-346-3700. Information also is available on-line at http://www.waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Pauline Austin, 541-346-3129, paustin@uoregon.edu

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