Widely respected, award-winning author and historian Ralph Keen, Ph.D. heads to Springfield, March 16, to present the Kenneth H. Sauer Luther Symposium as part of the 2025-2026 Wittenberg Series. Keen, who brings considerable expertise in the Protestant Reformation and Early Modern Catholicism, will discuss "Sources and Ends in Early Lutheran Educational Thought" at 7 p.m. in Ness Auditorium, Hollenbeck Hall, on the University’s campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Keen, Schmitt Chair in Catholic Studies and Professor of History at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), was trained in the classics and philosophy as an undergraduate at Columbia University. He later examined the history of Christianity at the graduate level, eventually becoming an expert in Reformation-era thought.
His research in the latter area led to the following books: Divine and Human Authority in Reformation Thought (1997), Luther’s Lives (2003), The Christian Tradition (2008), and Exile and Restoration in Jewish Thought (2011), as well as editions of works by Thomas More and Johannes Cochlaeus. Additionally, he has edited, compiled, and contributed to more than 30 published works and articles, and his work has appeared in Martin Luther in Context (Cambridge 2018), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Martin Luther (2017), Harvard Theological Review (2017), and elsewhere.
Keen, who received his bachelor's degree in Greek from Columbia University, his master's in classics from Yale University, and his Ph.D. in the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago, currently serves as co-editor of the monograph series Catholic Christendom, 1300–1700 published by Brill. He also led the American Society of Church History as its president and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee and as a Faculty Fellow of the Honors College at UIC, where he previously served as dean. Before joining the faculty at UIC, Keen taught in the religious studies department at the University of Iowa, where he was also director of undergraduate studies and an honors advisor. In addition, he has served as a visiting professor at the Harvard Divinity School.
At Monday’s event, Wittenberg President Christian M.M. Brady will welcome all those in attendance and introduce Keen.
The Wittenberg Series was created in 1982 during President William A. Kinnison’s tenure. Since its inception, Nobel Laureates, scientists, significant literary figures, most of America’s foremost modern dance companies, as well as hundreds of prominent psychologists, educators, economists, writers, theologians, urban planners, and historians, have visited the campus to participate.
All events of The Wittenberg Series are open to the public free of charge. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of each lecture or performance.
For more information on the Wittenberg Series, click here. To make special arrangements or become a friend of the Wittenberg Series, contact the Office of University Communications at ucomm@wittenberg.edu.
