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Oct. 7, 2005
 Dr. Eugene V. Gallagher, Rosemary Park Professor of Religious Studies at Connecticut College, is the featured speaker for the annual Morningside College Wright Lecture series at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Avenue.
Gallagher’s address, “What Motivates Religious Terrorism,” is sponsored by the Morningside College Wright Lecture series and the college’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS). The event is free and open to the public.
Gallagher is a nationally recognized author, scholar, and teacher who specializes in the study of unconventional, controversial religious movements. He is the author of four books, including “Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America” that was published by University of California Press in 1995. The book was co-written with James Tabor, a biblical scholar who tried to negotiate with David Koresh prior to the tragedy at Waco, Texas.
His book “The New Religious Movements Experience in America,” published by Greenwood Press in 2004, is a wide-ranging study about unconventional American religious groups. Gallagher has 29 articles on primitive and classical religions in “The Encylopedia Dictionary of Religions” and has published over 50 book reviews.
Gallagher has been at Connecticut College since 1978 and founded the college’s Center for Teaching & Learning in 1996. He is currently the faculty fellow of the center and is chair of the Committee on Teaching and Learning of the American Academy of Relgion. His introductory religion class, “The Study of Religion,” attracts more than 200 undergraduates each year.
The Wright Lecture series, which started in 1981, brings outstanding preachers, religious leaders, and prominent religious studies scholars to Morningside College. The lectures are funded by an endowment established by Dr. and Mrs. Ernest Wright.
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