LITERATURE + LECTURES

The Jewish Community Center of Houston presents a lecture entitled God in the Obama Era: Presidents' Religion and Ethics from George Washington to Barack Obama. Featuring Dr. Niels Nielsen, Jr., (pictured) The J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University (Emeritus.)

Niels C. Nielsen, Jr.'s field of study and research is philosophy and religious studies. His text, Religions of the World is a widely used class book. His study of The Religion of Jimmy Carter had international sales, with Dutch and German translations. He has also written on Religion After Communism in Russia. He was founding chairman of its department of religious studies from 1968 to 1990.

His B.A. degree is from George Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, and his B.D. and Ph.D from Yale. He taught in the Yale University Department of Religion before coming to Texas. His professional affiliations include the American Academy of Religion, American Philosophical Society, American Society for the Study of Religion, Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and the Society for European Culture. His doctoral research at Yale was in contemporary theology. Subsequently he has written in the fields of world religions and religion in Eastern Europe; he traveled extensively researching in these fields.

In his new book, an examination of the role of religion in the life and work of our presidents, Dr. Nielsen revisits one of the most controversial issues of the recent presidential campaign - Obama's religious beliefs and background - and explores how they influence the President's day-to-day decisions.