FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 11, 2011 Office of College
Communications WENHAM, MA –Since the 18th-century Enlightenment,
Americans have maintained much friendlier ties with religion
than Western Europeans. In fact, the United States and Western
Europe’s paths to modernity have differed exponentially. Thomas
A. (“Tal”) Howard, associate professor of history, will be
presenting a lecture entitled “America, Europe, and the
Religious Divide” as part of the Old Town Hall Lecture Series
sponsored by the Gordon College Institute for Public History. He
will be discussing some of the main themes he addresses in his
most recent book, God and the Atlantic: America, Europe, and the
Religious Divide. The event will take place Thursday, March 17,
at 7:30 p.m. at the Salem Old Town Hall. “The book seeks to
explain some of the religious differences between Europe and
America,” says Howard. “I am especially keen to show how
Europeans have interpreted America’s early experiment in
religious liberty and its long-term effects.” H