Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez, of Calvin University, will present the 38th annual Paul V. McNutt Lecture for the Department of History at Indiana University.

A New York Times bestselling author and a Senior Democracy Fellow with the Public Religion Research Institute, she has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, and Christianity Today, and has been interviewed on NPR, CBS, and the BBC, among other outlets. Her most recent book is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Her next book, Live, Laugh, Love, is expected in September 2026. The title of Professor Du Mez’s talk is "From Jesus and John Wayne to Live Laugh Love: the Religious Roots of our Current Political Moment."

The Department of History’s annual McNutt Lecture honors Paul V. McNutt, who was dean of the Indiana University School of Law from 1925 to 1933, then became Indiana’s governor and later served as U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, director of the Federal Security Agency, and chairman of the War Manpower Commission during World War II.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed at this event are those of the presenter and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University.