[279] Diverse Scholars Bring Distinguished Lectures To MTSU In February

FOR RELEASE: Jan. 25, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. William Yelverton, 615-898-2004; Connie Huddleston, 615-494-7628.

DIVERSE SCHOLARS BRING DISTINGUISHED LECTURES TO MTSU IN FEBRUARY
Poet Sandburg and the Spanish Guitar, Scribes Who Changed Bible Are Topics

(MURFREESBORO)—Scholars who study Carl Sandburg’s musical interests and the history of early Christianity will bring their expertise to MTSU in February as part of the university’s ongoing Distinguished Lecture Series.
On Tuesday, Feb. 8, Dr. Jhon C. Akers will interpret the works of poet Carl Sandburg on classical guitar in “Carl Sandburg and the Spanish Guitar,” a free public lecture slated for 7:30 p.m. in the State Farm Lecture Hall, Room S102, of the Business and Aerospace Building.
Akers, an associate professor of modern languages at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., was the featured lecturer twice for the Sandburg Days Festival in Galesburg, Ill.
Sandburg, a poet, historian and winner of three Pulitzer Prizes, also collected folk songs and wrote children’s literature and had a lifelong love for the Spanish guitar.
And on Friday, Feb. 18, the Department of Philosophy at MTSU is sponsoring a free public lecture, “Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Changed the Bible and Readers Who May Never Know,” by Dr. Bart D. Ehrman.
The lecture is planned for 3:30 p.m. in the State Farm Lecture Hall in the BAS. Ehrman will sign copies of his books immediately following his lecture.
Ehrman, the author of more than 20 books, including three New York Times bestsellers (Jesus Interrupted, God’s Problem and Misquoting Jesus), is the James A. Gray Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity. His work has been featured in Time, The New Yorker, The Washington Post and other print media, and he has appeared on NBC's “Dateline,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” CNN and other top media outlets.
The Ehrman lecture is part of the annual Applied Philosophy Lyceum in conjunction with MTSU’s Distinguished Lecture Committee.
For more information on the Feb. 8 Sandburg lecture, contact Dr. William Yelverton at 615-898-2004 or 615-898-5623.
For more information on the Feb. 18 Ehrman lecture, contact Connie Huddleston at 615-494-7628.

****EDITORS: Spelling of “Jhon” in second graf (“Dr. Jhon C. Akers”) is CQ.****

Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate university. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. This fall, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.
-------

IN BRIEF: Scholars who study Carl Sandburg’s musical interests and the history of early Christianity will bring their expertise to MTSU in February as part of the university’s ongoing Distinguished Lecture Series. On Tuesday, Feb. 8, Dr. Jhon C. Akers will interpret the works of poet Carl Sandburg on classical guitar in “Carl Sandburg and the Spanish Guitar,” a free public lecture slated for 7:30 p.m. in the State Farm Lecture Hall, Room S102, of the Business and Aerospace Building. And on Friday, Feb. 18, the Department of Philosophy at MTSU is sponsoring a free public lecture, “Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Changed the Bible and Readers Who May Never Know,” by Dr. Bart D. Ehrman. The lecture is planned for at 3:30 p.m. in the State Farm Lecture Hall in the BAS. For more information on the Feb. 8 Sandburg lecture, contact Dr. William Yelverton at 615-898-2004 or 615-898-5623. For more information on the Feb. 18 Ehrman lecture, contact Connie Huddleston at 615-494-7628.

For MTSU news and information anytime, visit www.mtsunews.com.

—30—

ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color JPEGs of Dr. Akers, Dr. Ehrman and/or one of Ehrman’s latest book covers, contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385. Thanks!