Providence, RI--Rev. Fergus Kerr, the first scholar to hold the Rev. Robert Randall Distinguished Professorship in Christian Culture at Providence College, will give the inaugural public lecture on Tuesday, October 1, 2002 at 7 p.m. in Slavin Center '64 Hall. Father Kerr's address will focus on "Christianity and Cultural Conflicts in Europe."

The regent of the Blackfriars College, Oxford University, Oxford, England, Fr. Kerr holds degrees in philosophy and theology, including the master of sacred theology. He is the author of Theology after Wittgenstein and Immortal Longings and is the editor of New Blackfriars. Father Kerr also serves as an honorary senior lecturer at Edinburgh University in Scotland. His interests include Aquinas and contemporary Thomism, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger.

Named for a scholar, priest, and artist who has served as a member of the College faculty for more than 25 years, the Randall Professorship exemplifies the commitment to educational excellence and Christian values that have defined Father Randall's life as an educator and priest. Father Randall holds graduate degrees from Catholic University, Oxford University and Brown University. In addition to teaching English, theology, and courses in the Development of Western Civilization Program at Providence College, Father Randall served as the rector and as an English professor for the Diocese of Providence's now-closed Our Lady of Providence Seminary. He also has served as pastor of St. Andrew Parish on Block Island and St. Sebastian Parish in Providence.

The Randall Professorship will be held by a recognized scholar whose work concentrates on an understanding of culture that embodies a Christian view of human achievement. The selected individual will contribute to undergraduate instruction in the theology, philosophy, history, literature, or the social sciences departments by participating in the Liberal Arts Honors and Development of Western Civilization Programs, directing student research, and delivering public lectures.

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