Miami Presents: Jesus and John Wayne and the Evangelical Reckoning

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In 1927, Arthur C. Wickenden became the founding chair of what was then called the Department of Religion at Miami University--one of the two oldest departments devoted to the study of religion at an American state-supported university. The Arthur C. Wickenden Lectures were founded in 1970 by Miami graduate Rev. Walter Simmons and members of the Wickenden family, in commemoration of Professor Wickenden’s life and in celebration of the human spirit.

Jesus and John Wayne and the Evangelical Reckoning: How can we understand our current politics in light of a longer history of white evangelical Christianity?

Taking popular culture seriously, historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez traces the intersection of evangelical masculinity and Christian nationalism over the past half century and explores what this means for the future of American democracy.  

Dr. Du Mez is a professor of history at Calvin University, where she teaches on US women's history and US cultural history. Her most recent book is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, a New York Times bestseller.

Sponsored by the Department of Comparative Religion 

Alumni and friends are encouraged to attend this event in person in the Bachelor Hall, Room 101  No tickets necessary.  Those who are unable to attend or would prefer to watch online should register here.  Please contact J.J. Slager, slagerjj@miamioh.edu, with questions.