Lecture Explores Religious Freedom in India

Susan Billington Harper, an historian of Christian missions and former lecturer in British imperial history at Harvard, will speak about “Religious Freedom in India: A Reexamination” Thursday, April 15, at 3:30 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge. The World Christianity Lecture will address the volatile issue of religious conversion in India in light of recent attacks on Christian converts and laws aimed at outlawing conversion. Her talk sets these events against early 20th century debates over conversion between Gandhi and prominent Evangelicals of his day.

Harper, who earned her doctorate in imperial history from Oxford University, is a Rhodes Scholar who has worked for the Pew Charitable Trusts and the New York Times. She has written “In the Shadow of the Mahatma” and numerous journalist and scholarly articles.

She is married to Charles L. Harper Jr., senior vice president of the John Templeton Foundation, and is the daughter of James Billington, who has served as the U.S. Librarian of Congress since 1987.