DATE: September 6, 2006
MEDIA CONTACT: Melanie McDonald, director of media relations
PHONE: 574-284-4579
E-MAIL: mmcdonal@saintmarys.edu

Mary: From Jewish Maiden to Global Icon- Lecture at Saint Mary’s Examines Mary’s Role in Modern World

NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Few Christians know that there is more written about the Virgin Mary in the Koran than in the Bible, and that she is revered as a figure of female purity in Islam. Professor Miri Rubin illuminates this and much more about Mary in an upcoming lecture at Saint Mary’s College on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in O’Laughlin Auditorium.

Rubin is the inaugural speaker for the renewed Christian Culture Lecture at Saint Mary’s College. The annual lecture series celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Humanistic Studies Program (formerly the Christian Culture Program) at the College.

A professor of medieval and early modern history at Queen Mary – University of London in the UK, Rubin is one of the world’s leading historians of medieval Europe. Rubin’s current research focuses on Mary and her impact on people throughout the centuries and across cultures and faiths.

“Is Mary a figure around whom Christians of different denominations might meet? How do non-believers relate to the vast and important heritage of Mary in music, art, literature and architecture? What of Mary can be shared by other faiths? Those are among the questions I will address during my lecture,” says Rubin.

Rubin earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. She taught at New York University and has lectured at Duke University, Princeton University, and the University of California at Berkley, among many others. Rubin is also a frequent guest on BBC Radio.

First established by Professor Bruno Schlesinger in 1957, the Christian Culture Lecture showcased preeminent humanities scholars, who explored the Christian dimension of Western culture. The lectures continued for a quarter century, and have been revived this year thanks to a gift from 1961 graduate of the program, Susan Fitzgerald Rice, and her husband Dr. Donald B. Rice, of Los Angeles.

The lecture is free and open to the public.
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