 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Home > Newsletter
Michaelsen Visiting Scholars Program
With a generous gift from Bob and Florence Michaelsen, the department is in the process of establishing an endowed visiting scholars program. This program will bring to the campus annually, one or two highly distinguished scholars to discuss their scholarly work on religion and will involve them in a variety of intellectual forums. Michaelsen Scholars will generally be invited for a three- to four-day residency. During this extended stay on campus they will, one, give a public lecture for the Santa Barbara community either on campus or in a downtown location; two, give presentations in several religious studies classes appropriate to their own work; and three, meet with faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate majors both formally and informally to discuss their scholarship. If funds are available, the public lectures of Michaelsen Scholars will be published.
This program is different from any of the other activities currently within the department. It is designed to give faculty and students the opportunity to get to know visiting scholars and their work in more depth than is usually possible with visitors who give a single lecture. Given an extended time period and a variety of forums for intellectual exchange, the program should enrich the education of undergraduate and of graduate students, allow faculty to discuss new scholarly directions in the field and establish professional contacts, and enhance the prestige of the department generally by bringing well-known national and international scholars to Santa Barbara. The endowment will permanently associate the Michaelsen name with the Department of Religious Studies at UCSB.
