The Margaret A. Steelman Lecture
March 19, 2026
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Farrell Hall | Broyhill Auditorium
About The Future(s) of Liberation Theology
In a moment marked by global crisis, democratic retreat, and deep moral uncertainty, liberation theology remains one of the most vital theological traditions for thinking critically about faith, power, and the possibilities of collective life. Through its transformative expressions in African, Asian, Black, feminist, queer, postcolonial, and womanist theologies, liberation theology has continually insisted that theology must be accountable to the suffering of the world and oriented toward justice.
The 2026 Margaret A. Steelman Lecture features a series of conversations with five distinguished theologians on the future(s) of liberation theology. Across diverse contexts and traditions, these conversations will engage such pressing issues of rising authoritarianism, political violence, ecological crisis, and economic inequality and the enduring relevance of liberation theology for the church, the academy, and the global community seeking hope and transformation in a fractured world.
Participants
Edgardo Colón-Emeric
Dean and Ruth and A. Morris Williams, Jr. Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School
Dwight N. Hopkins
Alexander Campbell Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School
Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Earley Associate Professor of Catholic and Latin American Studies
Corey D. B. Walker
Dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, and Director of the Program in African American Studies
Program
9:00 am | Welcome
Hannah McMahan King (‘06, MDIV ‘09)
Assistant Dean of Development
9:15 am | Opening Remarks
Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo and Corey D. B. Walker
9:30 am | Conversation I
Kelly Brown Douglas and Edgardo Colón-Emeric
Moderator: Corey D. B. Walker
11:30 am | Break
1:00 pm | Conversation II
Robert Ellsburg, Dwight Hopkins, and Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Moderator: Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo
2:45 pm | Break
3:00 pm | Conversation III
Kelly Brown Douglas, Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Dwight Hopkins, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, and Robert Ellsburg
Moderators: Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo and Corey D. B. Walker
4:00 pm | Closing Remarks and Reception
Rotunda of Divinity and Religious Studies Building
Livestream
Available at time of event
About the Margaret A. Steelman Lecture
The Margaret A. Steelman Lecture is the oldest endowed lecture series at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Established in 1998 with a gift from Sanford L. Steelman, a distinguished biochemist from Hickory, NC, in honor of his wife Margaret A. Steelman, the Steelman Lecture features distinguished scholars addressing critical issues on theology, ethics, and public life.