10-5-04
BEHREND AND THE INSTITUTE ON THE AMERICAN DREAM PRESENTS CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM
On Tuesday, October 26, Dr. Dan Frankforter of Penn State Behrend will speak on the topic of Christian fundamentalism as part of the Institute on the American Dream Speaker Series. The lecture, which will be held in the Smith Chapel, starts at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
"When most Americans hear the term 'fundamentalism' today, they think of Islamic radicalism," said Dr. Frankforter. "However, the word was coined in the early 20th century to refer to Protestant Americans who identified five beliefs that they claimed were "The Fundamentals" of Christian faith. In 1925 newspaper coverage of a legal battle over the teaching of evolution in Tennessee's schools (the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial) heaped ridicule on fundamentalism, and for decades fundamentalists withdrew from the public arena into a world of their own."
"That began to change in the 1960s when fundamentalist leaders started to organize their followers for political action. By allying themselves with political and social conservatives, they have become a major force in American politics. The support they now provide for conservative politicians raises questions about the future of the long-standing American belief that church and state ought to operate in separate spheres."
Dr. Frankforter has published eight books, most recently The West: Culture and Ideas (2003). Scholarly articles have appeared in numerous journals including The British Studies Monitor, The American Benedictine Review, The Catholic Historical Review, and Church History. He has a Ph.D. from Penn State University and is professor of medieval history at Behrend.
The Institute on the American Dream was founded by Rev. Charles Brock, an Erie native who graduated with degrees from Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, and Oxford. The Institute strives to examine the "bright and dark sides of the [American] dream."
Media Contact: Jen Town, 814-898-6522, jlt234@psu.edu