November 13, 2025
About The Gift of Hope and the Human Condition
Alton B. Pollard III, distinguished scholar and academic leader, is the James and Marilyn Dunn Chair in Baptist Studies and University Professor of African American Studies. On November 13, 2025 he will deliver his inaugural lecture.
This full-day event will bring together a group of renowned scholars invited to address critical questions on religion, culture, politics, and the human condition. The event will also feature a public conversation on the recently published book Why Study Baptists?: A Festschrift to Bill J. Leonard.
Event Agenda
10 am | Opening and Welcome
10:15 am | Conversation I
A public conversation on the recently published book Why Study Baptists?: A Festschrift to Bill J. Leonard
Panelists: Doug Weaver, Linda Bridges, Melissa Rogers, and Pam Durso featuring Bill J. Leonard
Moderator: Derek Hicks
11:45 am | Break
12 pm | Lunch
1 pm | Break
2 pm | Conversation II
A public conversation on the symposium theme “Shifting Interpretations”
Panelists: Debra Mumford, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Wylin Wilson, and Nichole Phillips
Moderator: Melva Sampson
3:30 pm | Break
4 pm | Inaugural Dunn Lecture: The Gift of Hope and the Human Condition
Alton B. Pollard III, introduced by Corey D. B. Walker
5 pm | Reception
Event Participants
Bill J. Leonard
Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus
Wake Forest University
Debra Mumford
Vice President for Academics; Dean of the Seminary; Frank H. Caldwell Professor of Homiletics
Louisville Seminary
Nichole Phillips
Associate Professor in the Practice of Religion and Society; Director of the Black Church Studies Program
Emory University
Alton B. Pollard III
James and Marilyn Dunn Chair in Baptist Studies and University Professor of African American Studies
Melissa Rogers
Distinguished Scholar in Residence in Faith, Law, and Public Policy
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
Doug Weaver
Department Chair and Barbara Jo Beard Driskell Professor of Historical Studies
Baylor University
