Dr. Reggie Williams to speak on MLK Day
Dr. Reggie Williams, professor of Christian ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Ill., will be the keynote speaker for Augustana College's annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy. The theme of the event is "Called to Love."
The celebration, which is co-sponsored by the Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity and the Augustana Diversity Council, will take place virtually via Zoom on Monday, Jan. 15, at 10:30 a.m. The stream will be shown in the Gävle rooms of the Gerber Center for Student Life.
Schedule
| 10:30 a.m. | Welcome by Dr. Lisa Durant-Jones, Ed.D (interim vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) |
| 10:35 a.m. | Remarks by Dr. Andrea Talentino, Ph.D (Augustana College president) |
| 10:40 a.m. | Speaker Introduction by Rachel Nandelenga (SGA president) |
| 10:45 a.m. | Keynote by Dr. Reggie Williams, Ph.D |
| 11:15 a.m. | Q&A with Dr. Reggie Williams (facilitated by Dr. Wolff) |
| 11:35 a.m. | Heavy Steppas Performance |
| 11:45 a.m. | Closing Remarks by Ashley Allen (director of Student Inclusion and Diversity) |
| 11:55 a.m. | Lift Every Voice by Charlotte Boyer ("Charlotte Blu") |
About Dr. Reggie Williams
Reggie Williams is a professor of Christian ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary, in Chicago, Ill. Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary. His research interests include Christological ethics, theological anthropology, Christian social ethics, the Harlem Renaissance, race, politics and Black church life.
He is the author of "Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance," which was selected as a Choice Outstanding Title in theology in 2014. The book examines the impact of exposure to theology in the Harlem Renaissance on the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was killed by the Nazis in 1945 for his resistance to Hitler’s government.
Dr. Williams' current work continues to focus on Black aesthetics as an intervention to re-calibrate common interpretations of human beings and of Christians that lead to harmful interpretations of God, and of ethical life.
Dr. Williams is a board member of the English Language section of the International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society, of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and a former board member of the Society for Christian Ethics. He and his wife Stacy are the parents of a son, Darion, and a daughter, Simone.