Is There God After Prince? Icons in an Age of Last Things

Event description

  • Academic events
  • Arts and entertainment
  • Free
  • Inclusion
  • Open to the public

What can it mean to love the things we love (books, records, people) in a time of disaster, an era of ends? How do our icons speak to us—what news can they deliver—during planet-sized calamity? Taking a cue from the death of Prince, the much-mourned saint of Minneapolis, this lecture considers the icon as a herald of possibilities lying just beyond the secular perimeter of the knowable and known. All manner of things find us through our icons. This talk wonders over the fate of our devotion to them in this time of crisis and collapse—an age of Last Things.


The Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Speaker Series on Religion and Conflict is an endowed lecture series that honors the life-long commitment of Maxine Besser Marshall (‘76) and Jonathan Marshall to education, civil liberties and world peace. This event is also supported by the Center's Spirituality and Public Life Initiative.

About the speaker

Peter Coviello, professor and head of English at University of Illinois Chicago

Peter Coviello is the author of six books, including “Make Yourselves Gods,” a finalist for the 2020 John Whitmer Historical Association Best Book Prize and “Long Players,” a memoir selected as one of ARTFORUM’s Best Books of 2018. His newest book, “Is There God After Prince? Dispatches from an Age of Last Things,” was selected for The Millions’ ‘Most Anticipated’ list for 2023.


Logistics

This event is hosted by the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and will take place on the ASU Tempe campus in West Hall, Room 135, and will be livestreamed through the Center's YouTube channel and on ASU Live. Your confirmation email will provide detailed directions to the venue, including parking information. The lecture will be followed by audience Q&A and a reception with light refreshments.

Registration details:

  • Free and open to all.
  • Register to guarantee your seat.
  • Classes and groups are welcomed to attend! Please contact us directly with your request.

Additional information

Event contact

Alex Brooks
480-727-7195
csrc@asu.edu
Date

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Time

4:00 pm5:15 pm (MST)

Location

West Hall, Room 135

Cost

Free