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CONFERENCES
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The 2010 Laing LecturesThe Words We Use Host: John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Regent Faculty Words: threatened with extinction by an image-based culture, wielded as weapons, used as tools of manipulation. The last few decades have seen an enormous shift in the way words are used and spread. How should we respond? Should we continue to fight against the encroachment of other media on the territory of the book? How do we argue in the Internet age, when a debate can balloon overnight into an argument shared by thousands? And how do we respond to the attempts of politicians and celebrities to spin their actions through speech? Join Dr. Bauer for an exploration into the contemporary realm of words and consideration of the way through these questions. Disappearing WordsPeople of the Book in a Multimedia Age Fighting WordsRight and Wrong-headed Ways to Argue Shameful WordsPublic Confession and Private Sins
Currently Susan runs Peace Hill Press, writes in a restored chicken shed, lectures on writing and history, helps run the farm, and cooks huge meals on a regular basis. Susan and her husband Peter now live in rural Virginia, where he serves as the minister of a nondenominational church. They have three sons and a daughter; five dogs; three horses; three cats; and a variable number of chickens.
About the Laing LecturesThe Laing Lectures began at Regent College 1999 in cooperation with Roger and Carol Laing and in honour of their father, William John Laing. The purpose of the lectures is to encourage persons recognized for scholarship, wisdom and creativity to undertake serious thought and original writing on an issue of significance for the Christian church and to promote the sharing of such thoughts through a series of public lectures. The material presented by Laing Lecturers is intended to move beyond an analysis of historic and current concerns to provide proposals for alternative action for the Christian church. In doing so, lecturers will be invited to explore in an interdisciplinary way the relationship between Christianity and culture, and to suggest ways in which that relationship might lead to greater flourishing of the church, the larger human household, and the whole community of creation. William John Laing (1916–1992) was the much-loved pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Calgary. A graduate of William Aberhart’s Prophetic Bible Institute, “Bill” Laing assumed the pastorate of the Bible Institute Baptist Church in 1939 when he was only twenty-three. He served that church for more than four decades. A theological conservative by conviction, Bill had a unique ability to couple his theology with his love for people. Pastoral care was his specialty and he was known as an encourager of people on their spiritual journey. Through his dynamic personality and strength of character he brought stability to his congregation. Under his leadership the church was restructured and changed its name to Bethel Baptist Church in 1949. He retired in 1981 and remained as Minister Emeritus for the next ten years. Evangelism and missions were prominent aspects of Bill’s ministry. Over fifty percent of his church’s budget was devoted to supporting missionaries, many of whom he had taught at Berean Bible College. Those missionaries went to Canada’s north, Europe, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America. He was an active supporter of the Youth for Christ movement and Billy Graham’s ministry from their inception. As one whose life had been greatly influenced by radio evangelism, he became a frequent speaker on Canada’s national Back to the Bible Hour broadcast. During that last decade of his life he was Pastor-at-Large for Global Outreach Mission which took his ministry throughout North America, Europe and India, where he spoke to conferences of pastors and missionaries. Bill Laing was a devoted husband and the father of eight children. Raised on a farm near Lacombe, Alberta, he was proud of his agrarian roots and Scottish heritage. He was also an avid hiker and camper in the Canadian Rockies. Past Laing Lectures
Past Laing Lectures include speakers such as Neil Postman, Charles Taylor, Peter Berger, Margaret Visser, Miroslav Volf, Nicholas Wolterstorff and Walter Brueggemann. The lecture recordings are available from RegentAudio.com as MP3 downloads. Click here to view the list of available recordings.
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Susan Wise Bauer is a historian and writer. She grew up in Virginia, and was educated at home by pioneering parents, back when home education was still unheard of. She learned Latin at age ten, worked as a professional musician while still in high school, and wrote three (unpublished!) novels before she turned sixteen. Since then, among a diversity of interests, words and their social and historical contexts have been significant to her life. Susan has worked as a ghostwriter, served as librarian and reading tutor for the Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Center in Williamsburg, and founded Peace Hill Press, a small press dedicated to publishing history and literature resources for parents and teachers. She is now working on a four-volume history of the world for W. W. Norton; her books include The History of the Ancient World, The History of the Medieval World, and The Well-Educated Mind (all from W. W. Norton) and The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin and Confession in America (Princeton University Press). Susan holds a Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary, where she teaches writing.
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