Conversations – An Evening of Discussion with Dr. Anthea Butler and Dr. Daniel Barrett

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The Mark Twain Library and the Redding League of Women Voters are proud to present the fourth installment of our series “Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy.” In this program, Dr. Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania will be in conversation with Psychology Professor Dr. Daniel Barrett of Western Connecticut State University. In her recently published book, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, Dr. Butler outlined how inherent racism has been constant in white evangelical religion throughout America’s history. We held a program in December to discuss the book and now are proud to be able to offer this virtual conversation with Dr. Butler herself to further examine what the noted historian and theologian has discovered from her research.

The Conversations series is a grassroots effort that continues to examine the underlying meaning of our democracy and how democracy matters even when we have different ideas about what it should look like. The focus is on addressing the difficult issues of truth telling and myth busting by bringing much-needed community conversations to help promote education, informed dialogue and civil discourse. The series is brought to you in association with Easton Public Library, Newtown’s C.H. Booth Library, Ridgefield Library, Weston Public Library, The League of Women Voters of Ridgefield, The League of Women Voters of Weston, and the League of Women Voters of Northern Fairfield County.

About our presenters:

Dr. Anthea Butler is Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought, and chair of the department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Butler holds an appointment in Africana Studies at Penn, and is part of the graduate group in the History department. A historian of African American and American religion, Professor Butler’s research and writing spans African American religion and history, race, politics, Evangelicalism, gender and sexuality, media, and popular culture. You can find more of her writing and public engagement at Antheabutler.com

Butler’s recent book is White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America. You can also find her chapter entitled “Church” in 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. Her first book is Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making A Sanctified World.

Professor Butler was awarded a Luce/ACLS Fellowship for the Religion, Journalism and International Affairs grant for 2018-2019 academic year to investigate Prosperity gospel and politics in the American and Nigerian context. She was also a Presidential fellow at Yale Divinity School for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Professor Butler currently serves as President of the American Society for Church history, and is also member of the American Academy of Religion, American Historical Association, and the International Communications Association.

A sought-after commentator, Professor Butler is currently an opinion writer for MSNBC. Her articles have also been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, and The Guardian. She has served as a consultant to the PBS series Billy Graham, The Black Church, God in America and Aimee Semple McPherson.


Dr. Daniel W. Barrett is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at Western Connecticut State University. He graduated with a BA from Wesleyan University, earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Arizona State University and served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Health Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Barrett is author of the 2016 textbook, Social Psychology: Core Concepts and Emerging Trends. His research interests include suspicion, persuasion, social influence, and cross-cultural psychology. He lives here in Redding, CT.