Religious Studies Scholar Will Lecture on Watergate and Politics in Contemporary Evangelical Magazines
German religious studies scholar Anja-Maria Bassimir will deliver a lecture in the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) on the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and politics in contemporary evangelical magazines. (Courtesy photo)
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WACO, Texas (April 21, 2017) – Anja-Maria Bassimir, a German historian and religious studies scholar specializing in the religious history of the United States, will lecture on “After Crisis: Watergate and Positions on Politics in Contemporary Evangelical Magazines” at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, in Cox Lecture Hall of Armstrong Browning Library, 710 Speight Ave.
“Watergate had such a significant effect on American politics that it will always be important,” said Elesha Coffman, Ph.D., assistant professor for history in the College of Arts & Sciences and resident scholar in the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR). “Evangelical politics, and specifically evangelical responses to scandal, have been a subject of increased attention since the 2016 election. This is a very timely topic.”
Bassimir is a member of the research group “Un/Doing Differences: Practices of Human Differentiation” at the University of Mainz with DFG, the largest independent research funding organization in Germany. Through this group, Bassimir is working on a project titled “Pluralism, Boundary-Making and Community-Building in North-American Religious Periodicals.” Bassimir previously has worked as a lecturer at the University of Münster.
“It is always interesting to get a perspective on U.S. history from someone who works outside the United States,” Coffman said. “Attendees will be able to see a familiar event—the Watergate scandal and its aftermath—through new eyes.”
Bassimir defended her Ph.D. thesis at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University in Münster in November 2016. The thesis is titled “The Evangelicalism Project: Visions of Spiritual Community in Evangelical Magazines during the 1970s and 1980s.”
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
“ISR is known as a place that fosters keen dialogue about religion and politics in the United States,” Coffman said. “This lecture is a good example of what ISR does best.”
by Kalli Damschen, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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