The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life Lecture: “Pluralism, White Supremacy, and American Religionz’
**Events may have been canceled or postponed. Please contact the venue to confirm the event.
Date & Time
Sat, Feb 21 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Address (map)
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Venue (website)
McCune Conference Room
The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life will present “Kaleidoscope: Pluralism, White Supremacy, and American Religious History,” a lecture by Catherine Albanese, on February 21, 2026, at 5:00pm at UCSB’s McCune Conference Room (HSSB 6020). This event is free and open to the public.
There is an abiding tension in American religious history―and in how that history is told―between the pervasive ideology of white supremacy and the reality of a multicultural, multireligious North American landscape. In this lecture, Catherine Albanese will discuss collisions between a white Protestant majority and the diversity of faiths flourishing beside it from the colonial era to the present, offering timely insights into transformations in American religion.
Catherine L. Albanese is J.F. Rowny Distinguished Professor Emerita in Comparative Religions at UCSB. Her pathbreaking research on American metaphysical spirituality has reshaped the field of American religious history. She has also developed a contact model of religious history that foregrounds encounters between religious people and the religious combinations made by individuals between and among traditions. She is past president of the American Academy of Religion and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her books include America: Religions and Religion (1981; now in its 5th edition); Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age (1990); A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion (2007); The Delight Makers: Anglo-American Metaphysical Religion and the Pursuit of Happiness (2023). Her newest book, Kaleidoscope: Pluralism, White Supremacy, and American Religious History, will be published in July 2026.
This event is presented by the Walter H. Capps Center and the Department of Religious Studies.
https://www.cappscenter.ucsb.edu/news/kaleidoscope-pluralism-white-supremacy-and-american-religious-history-catherine-albanese
