Religion and literature scholar returns to Yale
Renowned religion and literature scholar Peter Hawkins ’75PhD, one of the most popular professors to have taught at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in the past three decades, returned to the Yale faculty on July 1. Hawkins came back to YDS and ISM after an eight-year stint as professor of religion and director of the Luce Program in Scripture and the Literary Arts at Boston University. (In 2006 BU honored him with a Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, its most prestigious university-wide award for teaching.) His work has long centered on Dante, most recently in Dante: A Brief History (2006). Alumni may be familiar with the four-volume series he edited with Paula Carlson, Listening for God: Contemporary Literature and the Life of Faith.
Conference addresses morality of nuclear weapons
Talk about morality, nuclear weapons, and the way forward dominated the September 18-19 Sarah Smith Conference, hosted by the Divinity School's Center for Faith and Culture, on the topic "Are We Safe Yet? Vulnerability and Security in an Anxious Age." The conference was marked by distinctly global dimensions, not only because of the subject matter but also through the presence of such international figures as the event's keynote speakers, Sergio Duarte of Brazil, the United Nations' high representative for disarmament; and Canadian diplomat Douglas Roche, chair of the Middle Powers Initiative. Roche told conferees that, in the age of globalization, a "new understanding of human rights" is emerging that sets the stage for demands to end nuclear proliferation. Using words like "fundamentally immoral," "illegal," "insult," and "outrage" to describe the world of nuclear weaponry, he called on people of faith to claim a "sacred right to peace" and work toward disarmament. "It is about God's planet," said Roche. "I don't see how this agenda can be divorced from religious concern."
Alumnus named president of Carson-Newman College
J. Randall O'Brien ’87STM has been named president of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, effective January 1, 2009. O'Brien, who currently serves as the executive vice president and provost, professor of religion, and visiting law professor at Baylor University, began his transition into the presidency of Carson-Newman on August 1. In making the announcement, David Ogle, chair of the Carson-Newman Board of Trustees, said O'Brien "brings a breadth and depth of education, experience, and understanding for the roles, challenges, and opportunities required to ensure quality faculty and instruction, vibrant student life, and visionary leadership."
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