CommUnity

Erzen to address the challenges and impacts of faith-based ministries in the U.S.

Tanya Erzen, associate professor of religion and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound, will speak at Walla Walla University on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 11 a.m. in the WWU Church for the weekly WWU CommUnity program. Her presentation will be based on her recent book “God in Captivity: The Rise of Faith-Based Ministries in an Age of Mass Incarceration,” which explores the impacts and challenges of faith-based prison ministries in the United States.

Erzen will also present a colloquium related to her book, “Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement” Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the WWU Winter Educational Complex, room 209.

Erzen is executive director of the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound, an organization that provides college classes for women in Washington State prisons and works to educate the public about issues related to incarceration. She is one of 35 current presenters for the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau that provide free public presentations on history, politics, music, philosophy, and more. Erzen’s writing has appeared in publications including Guernica, The Nation, The Boston Globe, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She has a bachelor’s degree in American civilization from Brown University and a doctorate in American studies from New York University.

Erzen’s visit to WWU is sponsored in part by Humanities Washington, the WWU Department of Humanities, and the WWU Department of English. The WWU Church is located at 212 S.W. Fourth St., College Place; the Winter Educational Complex is located at 418 S.W. Davis Ave., College Place. Both events are free and open to the public.

Posted Feb. 5, 2018

A protrait of Tanya Erzen smiling for the camera.
Tanya Erzen, associate professor of religion and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound, will speak for CommUnity on Tuesday, Feb. 6.