W&L Music Lecture Supported by Class of ’63 Scholars-in-Residence Program
Albert Blackwell, Reuben B. Pitts Professor Emeritus of Religion at Furman University, will present a lecture-demonstration on the theme, “Sounding Music: Relations of Melody and Harmony to Religious Sensibility and Expression” on Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at R.E. Lee Memorial Church.
The free public lecture is part of a three day visit sponsored by the Religion Department at Washington and Lee and supported by the Class of ’63 Scholars-in-Residence Program and the Philip F. Howerton Fund. A reception will follow the lecture.
A philosopher of religion who has written extensively on the Enlightenment theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, Blackwell is also a lifetime church musician and adult choir director. He is the author of “The Sacred in Music,” a study of acoustical and theological dimensions of music.
Among Blackwell’s interests are gardening and peace-and-justice education as Instructor of International Humanitarian Law for the American Red Cross.
Blackwell has a B.S. degree from M.I.T. and a Ph.D. in theology from Harvard.
During his stay, Blackwell will be teaching in a Washington and Lee spring course offering, “The Sacred in Music: The Liberal Arts as Portal to the Sacred.”
