(Posted March 5, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- A specialist in the ethical beliefs of different religions, Simeon Ilesanmi, will present a talk at Juniata College on "Moral Revolution, Human Rights and the Myth of African Cultural Uniqueness" at 7:30 p.m., March 12 in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Science Center on the Juniata campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

Ilesanmi, associate professor of religion at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., has done extensive writing and research on the ethical beliefs of Christianity, Islam and indigenous religions of Africa. He also has lectured on international human rights and the ethics of war.

Ilesanmi, originally from Nigeria, has worked at Wake Forest since 1993. He also served as a Laurence S. Rockefeller Fellow at Princeton University from 1999 to 2000. He earned a diploma in religious studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 1983 and a diploma in theology from Immanuel College in Nigeria. He earned a bachelor's degree in religion, sociology and philosophy from the University of Ife, Nigeria in 1987. He went on to earn a doctorate in religious ethics at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in 1993, and currently is pursuing a law degree at Wake Forest.

He is an ordained Methodist minister and the author of "Religious Pluralism and the Nigerian State." He is working on a book titled "Religion and Human Rights; A Study in Comparative Ethics." He is a member of the International Society of African Philosophy, the American Academy of Religion, the African Studies Association and the Society of Christian Ethics.

This event is the first of two religious ethics lectures sponsored by the J. Omar Good Fund at Juniata College. Ron Cole-Turner, professor of theology and ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, will speak on "Redesigning Our Humanity" at 7:30 p.m. April 12 in Alumni Hall.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.