The Erie Canal and the Birth of American Religions- Sloan Lecture Series

Within 25 years of its opening, the Erie Canal cultivated extraordinary experimental spiritual groups including the Mormons, the Adventists, Spiritualism, a revived Apocalypticism, utopian communal societies such as the Oneida Community, with the Amana Colony and Shakers passing through, as well as the emotion-laden revivals of the Second Great Awakening. The Canal also engendered the religiously infused social movements of abolition, women's suffrage, and temperance. And because of its key location and function as the link between East and West, the repercussions of canal-formed spiritual experiments rippled across the continent with westward expansion, creating unique currents of religion in the United States into the present day.

This talk will be presented by SB Rodríguez-Plate, a writer, speaker, editor, and professor of religious studies whose books include A History of Religion in 5½ Objects, Blasphemy: Art that Offends, and Religion and Film. Their essays have been published in Newsweek, Slate, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Christian Century, The Islamic Monthly, the Huffington Post, and elsewhere. They are Executive Director of the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life; and Editor of the journal CrossCurrents.

Register for FREE here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2025-sloan-lecture-series-tickets-196528

All Sloan Lectures are available both in person and via Zoom. Everyone who registers will also receive a recording of the talk. If you would like assistance registering or to discuss accessibility for the program contact Derrick at b3V0cmVhY2ggfCBlcmllY2FuYWxtdXNldW0gISBvcmc= or by calling 315-471-0593. He would be happy to talk with you.
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