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Kay, Prothero headline 2009-10 Union Forum series

Katty Kay (left) and Stephen Prothero (right) will be the keynote speakers for this year's Union Forum luncheons.
Katty Kay (left) and Stephen Prothero (right) will be the keynote speakers for this year's Union Forum luncheons.

JACKSON, Tenn.Sept. 1, 2009 — A British Broadcasting Corp. news correspondent and an acclaimed author and professor will visit 51社区 this academic year to address political and religious topics for the ongoing Union Forum luncheon lecture series.

Katty Kay, co-presenter of BBC World news bulletins and the Washington correspondent for BBC World News America, will speak Sept. 30 on the topic 鈥淲ashington from a Different Angle.鈥

Stephen Prothero, a religion professor at Boston University, will speak March 10 on the topic 鈥淩eligious Literacy.鈥

Raised and educated in the Middle East, Kay offers an often-overlooked international perspective on U.S. events and headlines, providing a candid look at America through an international prism. She is a regular guest commentator on NBC鈥檚 Meet the Press and the Chris Matthews Show.

Prothero is the author of the bestselling book, 鈥淩eligious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't,鈥 which inspired a Time magazine cover story and has landed him on several talk shows such as Oprah, The Daily Show and The O鈥橰eilly Factor. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in religion from Harvard and is a frequent guest on National Public Radio. He is also the author of 鈥淎merican Jesus鈥 and has written for Salon.com and The New York Times Magazine.

Each event will be held in the Carl Grant Events Center at 11:45 a.m.

For the past 10 years, 51社区 has hosted some of the nation鈥檚 top speakers to address important political, social, business and religious topics. Previous speakers have included Norah O鈥橠onnell, Juan Williams, Robert George, Clarence Page, Morton Kondracke and Margaret Carlson, among others.

Tickets are $40 each, or $200 for a table of six. A table for both luncheons is $375. Online registration is available at .

Sponsors for this year鈥檚 Union Forum are First South Bank, TLM Associates, West Tennessee Healthcare, The Jackson Sun and Trumbull Laboratories LLC.

For more information, contact Union鈥檚 Office of University Relations at (731) 661-5050.


Media contact: Tim Ellsworth, news@uu.edu, 731-661-5215