DURHAM, N.H. - Hardly a day goes by when religion is not in the news, often associated with theocracy, oppression, and terrorism. In her book "The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good," author Marcia Pally rebuts this bleak and superficial view by offering the first in-depth look at "new evangelicals."

The University of New Hampshire welcomes Pally Sunday, April 1, 2012, for a discussion about the new evangelicals -- those who have moved away from the Religious Right toward a broadened focus on economic justice, environmental care, and democracy. The far-reaching effects of this shift -- in the United States and abroad -- ask us to reconsider religious stereotypes and refine our political thinking.

The discussion begins at 3 p.m. at the Durham Community Church, 17 Main Street. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the UNH Department of Communication, the Carsey Institute at UNH, the UNH Center for the Humanities, and the UNH Center for Cultural Citizenship. A reception and book signing will follow the discussion.

Pally is a professor at New York University in multilingual multicultural studies and is a permanent fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. She has been awarded the German Research Foundation's prestigious Mercator Guest Professorship and has been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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