The Bishop Alfred E. White Endowed Heritage Lectures will be presented at Hood Theological Seminary on Feb. 12 and 13 by the Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes, dean of the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University.

Townes, a distinguished scholar and leader in theological education, is also the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society. The lectures are free and the public is welcome.

The theme, “Reflections on Practicing Public Theology,” will explore possibilities for faith-filled responses to the public issues of contemporary society as we draw on our deepest religious insights into justice and the creation of a good society. Lecture one, “Colored Orneriness: A Concerto in Four Parts,” will be presented Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. The second lecture, “The Dancing Mind,” will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10:10 a.m. Both lectures will be held in room 315 on the seminary campus at 1810 Lutheran Synod Drive.

Townes’ broad areas of expertise include Christian ethics, cultural theory and studies, postmodernism and social postmodernism. She has been a pioneering scholar in womanist theology, a field of studies in which the historic and current insights of African American women are brought into critical engagement with the traditions of Christian theology. She is the author of the book “Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil” (Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2006) among other publications.

An ordained American Baptist clergywoman, Townes earned a Ph.D. from the Joint Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary/Northwestern University Program in Religious and Theological Studies. She also received a D.Min. from the University of Chicago. Previously, Townes earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees at the University of Chicago. She continues her research on women and health in the African diaspora in Brazil and the United States.

The Heritage Lecture Series, established in 1999, was endowed in April 2012 by an estate gift of Mamie Williams White, wife of Hood Seminary alumnus the late Bishop Alfred Edward White, who served as a Presiding Prelate of the AME Zion Church from 1984-1992.

Hood Theological Seminary is graduate and professional school where intellectual discourse and ministerial preparation occur in tandem within the framework of a community of faith. Sponsored by the AME Zion Church and approved by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church, its student body is composed of persons from many different denominations. For more information, contact the communications department at 704-314-4920 or cpalmer@hoodseminary.edu or visit www.hoodseminary.edu.