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In recognition of its 150th anniversary, ������Ƶ is expanding its Common Hour series of lectures this year to include three evening talks at the Coyle Free Library, 102 N. Main St. At 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, scholar and author Robert P. Jones will present Why Religion and Race are at the Heart of America ������Ƶ ’s Identity Crisis in Coyle ������Ƶ ’s new conservatory.

In the lecture, Jones will examine demographic and cultural changes taking place in America, notably that the United States is─for the first time in its history─no longer a nation where a majority of its citizens identify as white and Christian, and how the shift is affecting our politics and communities.

Jones also will speak at Wilson Monday, when he presents E Pluribus Duo? Partisanship, Polarization and Pluralism in America. The talk will be held at noon in the Stewart Library ������Ƶ ’s Lenfest Learning Commons.

Both talks are free and open to the public.

Jones, author of the book The End of White Christian America, is a leading scholar and commentator on religion and politics. He is the founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that conducts public opinion polls on a variety of different topics, specializing in the quantitative and qualitative study of political issues as they relate to religious values.

Jones writes a column for The Atlantic online on politics and culture and appears regularly on Interfaith Voices, the nation ������Ƶ ’s leading religion news-magazine on public radio. He is frequently featured in major national media such as MSNBC, CNN, NPR, the New York Times and Washington Post.

Wilson ������Ƶ ’s Common Hour─a lecture series dedicated to fostering inquiry and conversation across the campus community on pressing issues and big questions─this year has the theme ������Ƶ “Living Boldly ������Ƶ ” to mark the college ������Ƶ ’s Sesquicentennial. The 2019-20 series kicked off on campus on Sept. 2 and will feature a total of 11 talks and one dance performance.

The next lecture at Coyle Free Library will be held Oct. 7 with a talk by June Eric-Udorie, a journalist and feminist named ������Ƶ “Female Activist of the Year ������Ƶ ” by Elle UK magazine in 2017. The last talk at Coyle will be held Nov. 4, featuring Kait Parker, host of the Weather Channel ������Ƶ ’s Warming Signs podcast. Topics will be announced later.

For more on the Common Hour, including a schedule and biographies of the speakers, visit wilson.edu/common-hour.