Young Center events highlighted by Annual Durnbaugh lectures

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Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (02/25/2016)(readMedia)-- Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies has scheduled its spring lectures and annual banquet.

Amish courtship and wedding practices are the topic of the 2016 Durnbaugh Lectures Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8. Karen Johnson-Weiner, professor of anthropology at SUNY Potsdam, is this year's speaker.

Johnson-Weiner, the author of "Train up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools" and "New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State" and coauthor of "The Amish", has been studying culture and language use in Amish communities for more than 30 years.

The lectures will be preceded by the annual Young Center banquet at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in the Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall. The dinner, an opportunity for church leaders, faculty and staff members and friends of the Young Center to socialize and learn about the activities and programs, is open to the public. Cost for the dinner is $23. Reservations, required by March 24, can be made by calling 717-361-1470 or visiting www.etown.edu/youngctr/events.

The Durnbaugh Lecture, "Getting Hitched Amish Style: Change and Continuity in Amish Weddings," begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Susquehanna Room. Johnson-Weiner will discuss what changes in Amish wedding practices reveal about continuity and change in the Amish world. The talk is free and does not require reservations.

At 10 a.m. Friday, April 8, Johnson-Weiner presents the Durnbaugh Seminar, "Hinglefleish Frolics," in the Young Center's Bucher Meetinghouse. She'll take an in-depth look at Swartzentruber Amish courtship and wedding practices. An optional lunch follows the seminar. Cost for the lunch is $10; the reservation deadline is March 24.

The Durnbaugh Lectures, established in 1993, are funded by an endowment created to honor the work of Don and Hedda Durnbaugh, two of the original Young Center fellows. Each year the lectureship brings a noted scholar to campus to present research related to Anabaptist and Pietist groups.

Two additional Young Center events take place this spring. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, Jeff Bach, Young Center director and religious studies professor at Elizabethtown College, presents "Gender, Shame and Jacob's Hip: One Communal Society's Views," a talk on the Ephrata Community's unique interpretation of the biblical story of Jacob that allowed it to criticize patriarchy and male domination. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21, two Honors students discuss Amish and Brethren topics. Annemarie Hartzell, a senior at E-town, discusses Brethren conscientious objectors during the Civil War, and Temple University senior Quinton Meil examines Amish interactions with the criminal justice system. Both events are free and will be held in the Bucher Meetinghouse.

Contact: Young Center at 717-361-1470 or youngctr@etown.edu.

An internationally recognized scholarly research institute, the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College conducts and promotes research about and interprets the life, faith and culture of Anabaptists and Pietists through public lectures, resources, exhibits and conferences. The Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies: www.etown.edu/centers/young-center

Read about additional events at Elizabethtown College.

Elizabethtown College, located in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Learn more: http://www.etown.edu/about/

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