2024 André LaCocque Lecture

We are pleased to present the 2024 André LaCocque Lecture on March 14, 2024, at 5:30pm. Our guests will be Dr. Anthony B. Pinn and Dr. Brad R. Braxton, co-authors of A Master Class on Being Human: A Black Christian and a Black Secular Humanist on Religion, Race, and Justice.

The program will begin at 5:30pm and run to sundown (6:57pm), followed by breaking fast, prayer, and an iftar dinner.

About the Book:

Brad Braxton and Anthony Pinn represent two traditions—Christianity and Secular Humanism respectively—that have for centuries existed in bitter opposition. For too long, people with different worldviews have disparaged and harmed one another. Instead of fighting each other, Braxton and Pinn talk with, listen to, and learn from one another. Their wide-ranging conversation demonstrates the possibility of fruitful exchange that accounts for—rather than masks—their differences.

Written amid the Covid-19 pandemic, threats to our democracy, and national protests for racial justice, A Master Class on Being Human shows us that constructive dialogue can help us pursue the common good without sacrificing our distinctive identities. In conversations that are frank, personal, and deeply informed by scholarship, Braxton and Pinn discuss topics that are urgent and immediate, such as the ongoing violence against Black communities, the rise of religiously unaffiliated communities, the Black Lives Matter movement. They also ponder those broader philosophical and theological questions that inform our politics and sense of what it means to be human: the meaning of religion, the stubborn dilemma of moral evil, the power and problems of hope.

Braxton and Pinn invite us to join them in a master class as they strive to create a world where differences are not tolerated but instead celebrated. In that kind of courageous classroom, all can learn how to be better people who in turn transform the world into a better place.

About the Speakers:

Anthony B. Pinn received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1994.  Other degrees include the BA from Columbia University, the MDiv and MA, both from Harvard, and an honorary Doctorate degree from Meadville-Lombard Theological School. Pinn began his teaching career at Macalester College (St. Paul, MN), where his research and teaching earned him early tenure and promotion to full professor within the first eight years of his career.  In 2003, Pinn accepted an offer from Rice University (Houston, TX), becoming the first African American to hold an endowed chair at the University.  After an additional semester at Macalester and a semester at Williams College as the Sterling Brown 1922 Visiting Professor, Pinn joined the Rice faculty as the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, and he now serves as the Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religion.  During his time at Rice, Pinn founded and directed the Houston Enriches Rice Education (HERE) project (2007-2012).  In 2012, Pinn received approval to transform the HERE Project into the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning.  This center is a part of the Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research.  Pinn also founded and directs the doctoral concentration in the study of African American Religion at Rice. Outside Rice, Pinn has served as the first executive director of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and he also served on the Meadville Lombard Theological School Board of Trustees (2007-2012).  In addition, he has served in various roles on the board of directors and the executive committee of the American Academy of Religion.  Pinn also serves as a chapel advisor for the Rothko chapel, and has worked with the Menil Collection on his community engagement efforts. Pinn is also a member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture religion advisory board. He also has worked with the Aspen Institute on its “Inclusive America” Project, and he serves on the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee board of directors and on the Panel on Theological Education. He is also the Director of Research for the Institute for Humanist Studies Think Tank (Washington, DC).  In 2021, Pinn became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his contributions to scholarship. Read more >>

Dr. Brad R. Braxton is President and Professor of Public Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, a progressive graduate school of theological education known for its leadership in social justice and interfaith engagement. He is also the Senior Program Advisor for Living Religion: Creative Encounters in the United States, the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on religious diversity, and the Founding Senior Pastor of The Open Church, an inclusive congregation in Baltimore, Maryland committed to social activism, LGBTQ equality, and interfaith collaboration. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament studies from Emory University, where he was a George W. Woodruff Fellow, a master’s degree in theology from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. degree in religious studies from the University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Read more >>