Event organizers welcome Penny Edgell, PhD, as keynote address
Grand Junction – CMU sociology students will be joined by fellow sociology students from Fort Lewis, Adams State and Western State University on April 12 and 13 for an annual sociology conference.
The evening keynote address on Friday, April 12, is open to the public and will feature Penny Edgell, PhD, professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. The event, which begins at 7pm in Saccomanno Lecture Hall, will feature her lecture, "Cultural Repertoires of Religion and Nonreligion: Examples from the study of the United States."
Edgell has published three books and her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals in sociology and related disciplines. Her awards repertoire places her among the most respected in her discipline and include the American Sociological Association’s Sociology of Religion Book Award (2006), the Best Book Award from the American Sociological Religion Section (2000). She was a visiting faculty fellow at Princeton University.
"As a cultural sociologist who studies religion in the United States, I strive to understand how religion influences moral culture," said Edgell. "Our understandings of right and wrong, ideals of family life, how we think about race and racial equality and understandings of good citizenship – all these values are influenced by religion with significant implications for our society."
CMU Assistant Professor of Sociology Megan Henley, PhD, is enthused to host the conference and is excited about the keynote.
"Events like these are how we provide undergraduates with hugely valuable experiences while advancing our collective discipline through sharing of research and information," said Henley. "Dr. Edgell writes, lectures and researches within the upper echelons of our discipline and we’re honored to have her at CMU."
Community members and media interested in hearing Dr. Edgell are encouraged to attend the keynote address.
In a closed conference session on Saturday, students will present research projects to other conference attendees.