'Finding the Good Life Through Great Books': Lewis Honors to Host Karen Swallow Prior
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 17, 2020) — On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College Speaker Series will welcome author and Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Karen Swallow Prior for a talk titled, “Finding the Good Life Through Great Books.”
The event will be on Zoom at 4 p.m. Registration is required.
The purpose of the Lewis Honors College Speaker Series is to better prepare the Lewis Honors College students for the challenges and opportunities of life by covering topics including self-awareness, personal values, character development, leadership, critical thinking, decision-making, financial literacy, career planning, success and happiness; and to educate the Lewis Honors College students regarding the American values of individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, faith, family, patriotism, intellectual diversity, community engagement and civic responsibility.
Swallow Prior will be interviewed by interim Dean of College of Arts and Sciences and inaugural T.W. Lewis Dean Christian Brady. During the interview, she will share how literature helps us to develop and the importance of what she calls “reading well.”
“All around us, we can see the effects of an increasingly post-literate culture that manifests itself in many ways,” Swallow Prior said. “Reading well is a virtue that we all can and should improve upon. Even as a lifelong reader myself, I can sense the struggle to sustain my attention in order to read more deeply and spend more time doing it. I hope to offer those who attend the lecture some encouragement, hints and inspiration about the virtues of reading widely and well.”
Swallow Prior is the author of “Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me,” “Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More — Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist” and “On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books.” She is co-editor of “Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues” and has contributed to numerous other books. Her writing has appeared in Christianity Today, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Relevant, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, Religion News Service and Books and Culture.
Swallow Prior is a founding member of The Pelican Project, a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, a senior fellow at the International Alliance for Christian Education, a senior fellow at the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture and a member of the Faith Advisory Council of the Humane Society of the United States.
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