Dr. Peter Gottschalk

Dr. Peter Gottschalk, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University, will deliver an address Sept. 30 at Niagara University as part of the Henry and Grace McNulty Lecture Series on Religion in the Modern World.

The title of Dr. Gottschalk’s talk, which will take place in the Castellani Art Museum at 5:15 p.m., is “Patterns of Intolerance: America’s Struggle to Accept Jews, Catholics, & Muslims.”

The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Gottschalk’s research and teaching concentrate on the dynamics of cultural interpretation and conflict in the context of Islam, Hindu traditions, and the West. He is interested in understanding how assumptions of mutual antagonism form between groups despite evidence of religious confluence. Dr. Gottschalk has presented on these topics in the U.S., India, Bangladesh, Britain, Turkey and other parts of Europe at colleges and universities, professional conferences, public events, and religious communities. His books have been reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times, he has appeared on Voice of America, Air America, and National Public Radio, and his work has been mentioned in USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and the OnFaith website (formerly of The Washington Post).

Dr. Gottschalk received his B.A. in history from the College of the Holy Cross, his M.A. in South Asian studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. in the history of religions from the University of Chicago.

The McNulty Lecture Series is devoted to questions of faith in the contemporary world, especially the topics of social justice and interreligious dialogue. The series was established by the late Rev. Thomas P. McGourty, C.M., a professor of religious studies at NU, in memory of his late aunt and uncle.

For more information, please contact Dr. Brian Bennett, chair of Niagara University’s department of religious studies, at 716.286.8454 or ude.aragain@ttennebb.