By Joan C. McKinney, director, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Two well-known Black scholars, Dr. William Turner and Dr. Lewis Brogdon, will be teaching two courses dealing with race for the spring 2021 semester at Campbellsville University.
Turner, a visiting scholar at CU for the spring semester, is scheduled to teach SOC 480-01: Race, Democracy and the Continuing American Dilemma during the second bi-term beginning March 8, 2021.
In addition to teaching for Campbellsville University in the spring, Turner will give a keynote virtual address to the CU community and meet with students, as well as faculty and staff. He will also be working with Campbellsville University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Turner is a sociologist who specializes in Black Appalachian Studies. He has held numerous academic positions, including interim president of Kentucky State University, vice president for Multicultural Affairs at the University of Kentucky, and Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies and Regional Ambassador at Berea College.
Turner has also served as a consultant for the Kellogg Foundation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, other state and federal agencies and companies for his expertise in the area of grassroots organizations and diversity and inclusion practices and strategic planning.
He has several publications, including a textbook titled Blacks in the Appalachia. Turner worked as a research associate with Alex Haley, the author of Roots, and his essay on Black Appalachians was published in the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.
Turner is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Christian Appalachian Project’s “Person of the Year” in 1994 and was named Notre Dame University’s “Distinguished Alumni Exemplar” in 2006. Turner became part of the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Appalachian Studies Association honored him for a lifetime of service to the Appalachian region in 2009 by giving him the Cratis D. Williams/James S. Brown Service Award. This award is the highest honor bestowed by the organization. It is given annually to an individual who has made exemplary contributions to Appalachia.
Also in 2009, members of the Kentucky delegation in the United States House of Representatives to President Barack Obama recommended Turner to serve as federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Dr. Lewis Brogdon is scheduled to CHS 380-20: The Life and Theology of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the spring 2021 semester. This class will meet on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 o’clock.
Brogdon is an expert in the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is a visiting scholar in Black and church studies at Campbellsville University’s sister college, Simmons College, in Louisville, Ky.
Dr. Twyla Hernandez, associate professor of Christian missions, said, “We are so excited to have Dr. Brogdon teaching his course on the Life of Martin Luther King Jr. this spring. He is one of the foremost scholars in this subject and brings great passion to his teaching.
“I encourage students and even faculty and staff to consider taking the class to gain a better understanding of Dr. King’s life and ministry.”
Brogdon has spoken several times at Campbellsville University and frequently consults with the Diversity and Community Program at the university.
Brogdon has also held positions as an assistant professor of New Testament and Black Church Studies at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and Religion and Biblical Studies at Claflin University and an associate professor of Christian Studies at Bluefield College.
In addition to teaching, Brogdon served at those institutions as an administrator – the founding director of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary’s Black Church Studies Program, provost at Simmons College of Kentucky and dean of institutional effectiveness and research at Bluefield College.
Brogdon has published several books including A Companion to Philemon (Cascade 2018), The Spirituality of Black Preaching (Seymour Press 2016), The New Pentecostal Message? (Cascade 2015), Dying to Lead: The Disturbing Trend of Clergy Suicide (Seymour Press 2015), Hope on the Brink (Cascade 2013) and No Longer a Slave but a Brother (Scholars Press 2013).
He has authored numerous journal articles, book chapter essays and magazine articles as well.
Brogdon has lectured at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, the Interdenominational Theological Center, the University of Chicago Divinity School, Claflin University and Radford University on nihilism in Black America.
He was the keynote speaker at a city-wide Martin Luther King dinner in Dayton, Ohio, and received an invitation to the White House in 2014.
He was a special guest on Black Politics Today and presents workshops at major conferences like the Hampton Ministers Conference at Hampton University, the Global 21 Congress in Jerusalem and the annual congress for the National Baptist Convention of America, International (NBCA).
Brogdon is an ordained minister of 26 years and has pastored churches in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
For more information, contact Dr. Carey Ruiz, associate professor of sociology/interim director of diversity and inclusion, at cdruiz@forms.campbellsville.edu, for questions concerning Turner’s appearance, and Dr. Twyla Hernandez, associate professor of Christian missions, at khernandez@forms.campbellsville.edu, concerning Brogdon.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 13,500 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.