Snedden Chair to present journalism lecture
September 23, 2014
Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
9/24/14
Julia Duin, an award-winning journalist and Snedden Chair at the University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism department, will present "From the Pope to Pentecostal Serpent Handlers: Bringing Meaning into Journalism," Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Murie Building auditorium on the Fairbanks campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Duin's lecture will chronicle her three decades as a religion reporter and editor for five newspapers.
Duin began her journalism career covering police and municipalities for small newspapers in Oregon and South Florida. In 1986, she began working as the religion writer for the Houston Chronicle. She received a master's degree in religion at a seminary in western Pennsylvania in 1992 and then took a job as a city editor for the Daily Times in Farmington, New Mexico. In 1995, she moved to Washington, D.C. to be an assistant national editor with the Washington Times. Duin spent more than 14 years with the Times and published several books, including "Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing and What to Do About It" and "Days of Fire and Glory: The Rise and Fall of a Charismatic Community."
In recent years, she has written extensively for the Washington Post Sunday magazine and Style section, as well as the Economist, CNN.com and the Wall Street Journal. Her latest book project involves 20-something Pentecostal serpent handlers in Appalachia who use Facebook to spread their beliefs. In December, she expects to receive a second master's degree from the the University of Memphis. Other notable assignments throughout her career include reporting on Kurds in northern Iraq and the 2005 election of Pope Benedict.
The Snedden Lecture Series is made possible by an endowment from the late Helen Snedden in honor of her late husband, former Fairbanks Daily News-Miner owner, publisher and journalist C.W. Snedden.
For more information, contact the UAF Department of Journalism at 907-474-7761.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Margo Campbell, 907-474-7761 or mlcampbell@alaska.edu
MG/9-24-14/061-15