Allen-Head Lecture Brings Christian Scholar To Speak on Hell, Gender & Disability
SHERMAN, TEXAS— Dr. Meghan Henning, the associate professor of Christian Origins at University of Dayton, will present Austin College’s 2023 Allen-Head Lecture on Thursday, March 2.
Her talk, “Hell Hath No Fury: Gender, Disability and the Invention of Damned Bodies in Early Christianity,” will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Wright Campus Center, Room 231. A reception precedes the lecture, beginning at 4:30 p.m.; a book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.
Henning is the author of Educating Early Christians through the Rhetoric of Hell, which offers a pedagogical analysis of the function of hell in antiquity. Her second book, which is the topic of the Allen-Head lecture, examines hell through the lens of gender and disability studies.
After earning a bachelor’s degree at Denison University, Henning completed a master’s degree in Biblical studies from Yale Divinity School, and a doctorate in New Testament from Emory University. She is the recipient of grants and awards from the Jacob K. Javits Foundation, the Society of Biblical Literature, Yale Divinity School, and Emory University. Meghan has written for The Christian Century, provided commentary for The Daily Beast, and appeared in a documentary for the National Geographic Channel and on CNN.
The Allen-Head Lecture Series was established by an endowment gift in 1985 in memory and celebration of E.T. Allen Sr. and Mary Bell Anderson Allen; Mr. and Mrs. E.T. Allen Jr.; and Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Head Jr. of Whitesboro, Texas. The lectures feature nationally prominent speakers in religion, philosophy, psychology, history, and literature.