Published on September 23, 2013

Samford University’s Religion Department will host its annual Holley-Hull lecture series Oct. 2-3. This year’s series, by Dartmouth College professor Randall Balmer, will focus on president Jimmy Carter, the progressive evangelical tradition he represents, and the religious right movement that emerged as a powerful political force in the 1980 presidential election.
Balmer, Dartmouth’s Mandel Family Professor of Arts and Sciences, is a celebrated scholar, author of more than a dozen books and the author and host of an acclaimed PBS documentary based on his book Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America.The free public lectures include:
Oct. 2 6:30 p.m.
He Came unto His Own: Jimmy Carter and the Tradition of Progressive Evangelicalism
Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham
Oct. 3 10 a.m.
His Own Received Him Not: Jimmy Carter, the Rise of the Religious Right, and the 1980 Election
Reid Chapel, Samford University
Oct. 3 3 p.m.
The Historian's Pickaxe: Uncovering the Origins of the Religious Right
Brooks Auditorium, Brooks Hall, Samford University
The Howard L. and Martha H. Holley Lectures--New Testament Voices for a Contemporary World-- honors William E. Hull, Samford research professor and retired provost who has written widely on Christian themes.
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford is widely recognized as having one of the most beautiful campuses in America, featuring rolling hills, meticulously maintained grounds and Georgian-Colonial architecture. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second-highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.