Centre College Hosts International Theologian and Scholar RELEASED: Mar. 2, 2001 DANVILLE, KY – Centre College announces the 2001 Humana Scholar, Dr. John B. Cobb Jr., an internationally recognized theologian and scholar. Dr. Cobb will present a free public lecture entitled "Economism and Earthism" on March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Weisiger Theatre on the Centre College Campus. Dr. Cobb maintains that since World War II economic growth has replaced nationalism as society's primary objective. The result of this "Economism" is the exclusion of the poor and the destruction of the Earth. Cobb proposes a new devotion to the Earth or "Earthism" so that society begins to "see the health of the Earth, including its human inhabitants, as of supreme importance." He states that "instead of dominating the Earth, the economy should serve the well-being of the system as a whole. Doing so certainly includes meeting human needs. But the goal is to meet those needs in ways that disrupt and degrade the overall system as little as possible." Dr. Cobb is professor emeritus of theology at Claremount School of Theology and co-director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremount Graduate University in Claremount, California. He founded the Center for Process Studies, which brings diverse disciplines together to focus on urgent current issues. Ecological concerns resulted in his ongoing investigation of economic policies and the theories behind them. Born in Japan to Methodist missionaries, Cobb attended the University of Chicago, earning a master's degree in 1949 and a Ph.D. from the Divinity School in 1952. He taught at the Claremont Graduate School for 30 years (1960-1990), and in 1995 he co-founded Mobilization for the Human Family. His academic pursuits have focused on religious pluralism and ecological issues. Dr. Cobb was named a Fulbright professor at the University of Mainz, Germany, a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and has been a visiting professor at Rikkyo University in Japan, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Drew, Illiff School of Theology, and the University of Chicago. He has authored or co-authored 30 books, including For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, Environment, and a Sustainable Future (with Herman Daly, 1989), Sustainability (1992), Sustaining the Common Good (1994), and The Earthist Challenge to Economism: A Theological Critique of the World Bank (1999). He is the editor of eight books, most recently Searching for an Adequate God: A Dialogue between Process and Free Will Theists (with Clark Pinnock, 2000.) - end - Communications Office Centre College 600 W. Walnut Street Danville, KY 40422 Public Information Coordinator: Telephone 859-238-5719 News and Events Home Page