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Pierce’s research specialties include Literature & Religion; Womanist Theology; and African American Religions. A widely-published author, she has written several books, essays, and articles for academic and trade journals including: Time Magazine; The Christian Century; Theology Today; and Christianity & Literature. Pierce is the creator and curator of “Touching the Sacred,” an exhibit on material religion and the Black Church. She is a member of various professional organizations, including the Modern Language Association, the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and the American Historical Association. Pierce has also been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Pew Foundation, and the 2023 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion from the American Academy of Religion. As a first-generation college student, Pierce earned degrees from Cornell University and Princeton University. She is a native New Yorker, mentor, community activist, daughter of the Black Church, and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Date: October 28, 2024 Location: Hostetter Chapel Sanctuary Time: 7:00 pm Cost: Free tickets are required for this event. To reserve, please contact the Messiah University Box Office at 717-691-6036 option #1 or online at messiah.edu/tickets. Lecture will be followed by a Q&A session, reception and book signing

Dr. Morris P. Fiorina, Ph.D., is the Wendt Family Professor of Political Science and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Fiorina has written widely on American politics, with special emphasis on the study of representation, public opinion, and elections. He has published numerous articles and written or edited 13 books, including: Divided Government; Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America (with Samuel Abrams and Jeremy Pope); Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in American Politics (with Samuel Abrams); and most recently, Unstable Majorities. Fiorina has served on the editorial boards of a dozen journals in Political Science, Political Economy, Law, and Public Policy, and he is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has received Career Achievement Awards from the American Political Science Association’s Organized Sections on Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior, and Political Organizations and Parties.