The Wittenberg Series is a selection of cultural activities annually presented by Wittenberg University.
All Wittenberg Series events are admission-free.
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In addition to this year's Wittenberg Series events, the university will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with events intended to help us understand this movement’s impact and continuing legacy. When Martin Luther, on October 31, 1517, posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, his action helped begin the Reformation, with its remarkable people, ideas and events that decisively affected Christianity and, ultimately, world history. Click here to learn more.
2017-18 Wittenberg Series Schedule
Tuesday, August 22, 2017, Opening Convocation
"First Things First"
Dr. Michael Frandsen, Wittenberg University President
The unanimous choice of the Wittenberg University Board of Directors, Frandsen brings a breadth and depth of experience to Wittenberg’s highest post. Read More...
Event Times
- 11:45 a.m., Weaver Chapel
Monday, September 25, 2017, Concert
Seraph Brass
Committed to engaging audiences with captivating programming, Seraph Brass presents a diverse repertoire that includes original transcriptions, newly commissioned works and well-known classics. Read More...
Event Times
- 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel
Wednesday, October 25, 2017, Kenneth H. Sauer Luther Symposium
"Neither Safe Nor Right To Go Against Conscience"
Dr. Joy Schroeder, Theologian, Trinity Lutheran Seminary and Capital University
An Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) pastor, Schroeder is an expert in medieval and Reformation history, the history of biblical interpretation and the history of women in the church. Read More...
Event Time
- Q&A, 3:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel
- 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium
Sunday, October 29, 2017, Festival Choral Service to Commemorate the Reformation
Event Time
- 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel (Music begins at 7 p.m.)
Monday, October 30, 2017, Fred R. Leventhal Family Lecture
"Hillbilly Elegy: A Culture in Crisis"
J.D. Vance, Author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Author of the No. 1 New York Times best-seller Hillbilly Elegy, Vance was a principal at a leading Silicon Valley investment firm until moving back to Columbus, Ohio, in March 2017 to work for Revolution LLC, owned by AOL founder Steve Case. Read More...
Event Time
- 7:30 p.m., Pam Evans Smith Arena, Health, Physical Education and Recreation Center (doors will open at 6:30 p.m. to accommodate a large crowd)
Tuesday, November 14, 2017, Dr. Allen J. Koppenhaver Literary Lecture
Dunya Mikhail, Iraqi Poet and Arab American Book Award-Winner
Born in Iraq in 1965, Dunya Mikhail was forced to flee in the wake of the first Gulf War when her writings attracted the attention of Saddam Hussein’s government. Read More...
Event Time
- 4:30 p.m., Colloquium, Bayley Auditorium
- 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium
Friday, December 8, 2017, Candlelight Chapel Service
Lessons and Carols for Advent & Christmas
This candlelight service features readers from the campus and community, with music featuring Wittenberg's music ensembles. The service provides a perfect time of reflection as the Advent Season unfolds.
- 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel, (Music begins at 7 p.m.)
Monday, January 15, 2018, Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation
"Assignment of Fire"
Bernadette Evans '89, Community Activist
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Bernadette Evans, Wittenberg class of 1989, is the co-founder of The Math King LLC, an in-home tutoring service, and the Above the Rim Basketball league, serving more than 300 at-risk youth inside the 6th district in Wilmington, Del. Read More...
Event Times
- 11:15 a.m., Weaver Chapel
- 3:30 p.m., Q&A, Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning, Room 105
Monday-Tuesday, February 5-6, 2018, Visual Arts Residency
Elisabeth Haviland James, Documentary Filmmaker
Elisabeth Haviland James is a film producer, director and editor based in Durham, N.C., where her company, Thornapple Films, is headquartered. Read More...
Documentary Film Times
- 7:30 p.m., Feb. 5, John Legend Theater, 700 S. Limestone St. (Screening of Althea)
- 7:30 p.m., Feb. 6, John Legend Theater, 700 S. Limestone St. (Screening of The Loving Story)
Wednesday, March 21, 2018, IBM Endowed Lecture in the Sciences
"The Serengeti Rules"
Sean B. Carroll, Evolutionary Biologist and Author of The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters
An award-winning scientist, writer, educator and executive film producer, Sean Carroll is vice president for science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Allan Wilson Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wis. Read More...
Event Times
- 4 p.m., Colloquium, Bayley Auditorium
- 7:30 p.m., Lecture, Bayley Auditorium
Monday, March 26, 2018, William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture
"Jefferson in the Time of 'Hamilton'"
Annette Gordon-Reed, Author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
A renowned law professor and scholar of American history, Annette Gordon-Reed has taught at the New York Law School and at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In 2009, she won the Pulitzer Prize in History for her book The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, a subject she had previously written about in Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. Read More...
Event Times
- 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel