The newest segment of Union’s Town and Gown lecture series focuses on the well-known Christian apologist C.S. Lewis.
The first session of the series, titled “Aslan’s Apologist: Celebrating the Intellectual Legacy of C.S. Lewis,” was held Oct. 21 in the Carl Grant Events Center, with Hal Poe as the first speaker of the night.
Poe spoke on “C.S. Lewis and Imagination.”
“Dr. Poe is a leading scholar within the field of C.S. Lewis studies,” said Justin Barnard, associate dean of the Institute for Intellectual Discipleship and associate professor of philosophy of the Honors College. “He was an obvious choice to kick off our series.”
Following Poe, the second speaker of the night was Gene Fant, who focused on “C.S. Lewis and Literature: Why Reading Broadly Matters.”
Fant was chosen to speak because he has “spent significant time both teaching Lewis’s works and writing about them,” Barnard said.
Barnard said that the topic was chosen for the lecture series because the month of November will mark the 50th anniversary of Lewis’ death.
“We put together this series to celebrate his intellectual legacy,” said Barnard. “Many people know Lewis as a famous Christian apologist, but fewer realize the breadth of his engagement with many different streams in the intellectual life.”
The lecture series is open to the public and will continue at 6 p.m. every Monday night until Nov. 18 in the Carl Grant Events Center.
