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Religion in literature to be examined in Boldt lecture at St. Olaf College

mjc
April 13, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Two religion professors will discuss faith and doubt in contemporary American literature during an O.C. and Patricia Boldt/NEH Distinguished Chair in the Humanities Lecture Thursday, April 19, at St. Olaf College.

James Yerkes, who has taught philosophy and religion at the University of Chicago and is on the faculty of Earlham and Moravian colleges, will talk about "Faith and Doubt in Postmodern America: Updike?s World" at 7:30 p.m. in Room 501 of Holland Hall. After Yerkes? lecture, Darrell Jodock, Berhardson Distinguished Professor of Religion at Gustavus Adolphus College, will respond. The event is free and open to the public.

Yerkes is fascinated by what American novelist John Updike in his fiction calls the "unavoidable, unbearable and unbelievable Sacred Presence" that is detected "not so much by sight as by scent and footprint."

Yerkes is the editor of a newly published anthology, John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace. Yerkes also administers an interactive website, http//:www.ctel.net/~joyerkes, about Updike.

Jodock is author of one of the anthology?s chapters, "The Influence of Updike?s Lutheran Roots," in which he examines Updike?s ironic sense of humor and ambiguity, his use of unresolved paradox, and his vivid descriptions of sex, art and religion. Jodock says that Updike?s penchant for dazzlingly accurate descriptions of nature and of human relationships, including erosions and betrayals, flows from his Lutheran conviction that "truth, however harsh, is holy."

Following Jodock?s response, members of the audience will have an opportunity to comment and ask questions.

The Boldt Distinguished Teaching Chair promotes the humanities through creative channels outside of St. Olaf classrooms. The Boldt Chair was made possible by a contribution from Appleton, Wis., contractor O.C. and Patricia Boldt, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant includes funds to bring humanities experts to campus for lectures to students and the public.

Edward Langerak, long-time St. Olaf College philosophy faculty member, is the current holder of the Boldt Distinguished Teaching Chair.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.