The Paul Lamont Thompson Memorial Lecture was established by a gift from the sons and daughters-in-law of Paul Lamont and Ruth Peel Thompson. A committee of alumni and friends of the College worked diligently to build the fund with gifts from those many students whose lives were enriched by Dr. Thompson’s leadership. Paul Lamont Thompson was President of Kalamazoo College from 1938 to 1949. He played a crucial role in the development of the College during the difficult days of the Depression and World War II. He emphasized high academic standards and selectivity in the student body, and enhanced the reputations of the College as a quality institution of the liberal arts. Dr. Thompson founded the Annual Fund at Kalamazoo College and the College’s pension plan, helping to ensure the future financial integrity of the College. Several buildings were added to the campus during his tenure, among them Harmon Hall, Stowe Stadium, Angell Field, and Welles Dinning Hall. He served as President of the Association of Church Related Colleges. Dr. Thompson was an excellent speaker whose wit, wisdom, and gentle manner nurtured generations of Kalamazoo College students. His spirit and legacy continue through the endowment of the Paul Lamont Thompson lecture, which strives to bring speakers to this campus who enrich our ethical understanding of our position in the larger society, beyond the halls and walls of Kalamazoo College.
The 2025-26 Thompson Lecture
With guest speaker, Dr. Emilia Bachrach.
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 – 4:15 PM
Olmsted Room, Mandelle Hall
Kalamazoo College
A meet and greet reception will follow the lecture.
Leisure and Religion in South Asian Women’s Workplaces in Spain
Drawing from her ongoing ethnographic research in Barcelona, Spain, Emilia Bachrach considers how South Asian Hindu and Muslim women build social and economic networks while also navigating minority and minoritized religious status. Although some within Barcelona’s diverse South Asian population are socially and economically privileged, the majority work long hours in low-paying sectors and have little leisure time outside of work. Given these realities, this talk asks: what kinds of social possibilities emerge for women within their workplaces themselves? In response, it explores how women rework their sites of labor (including their own homes), alongside other public and private spaces, into contingent sites of religious and social gathering and community formation.
The lecture is free and open the public.
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Past Guest Lecturers
2025, April 17: Dr. Ayesha Irani
2023, October 11: Dr. Lloyd Barba
2022, October 18: Dr. Megan Goodwin
2022, May 10: Dr. Kristin Kobes De Mez
2019, October 22: Dr. Heather White
2017, May 4: Dr. Jeremy Sabella and Dr. Gary Dorrien
2016, February 16: Jessica Martinez
2015, March 2: Rabbi Rachel Mikva
2014, March 6: Dr. Amina Wadud.
2012, October 16: Dr. Vijay Prashad
2011, October 27: Dr. Janet Jakobsen
2010, April 01: Dr. Whitney Sanford
2008, April 03: Dr. Anna L. Peterson
2008, October 14: Dr. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
2007, April 4-5: Dr. Jeanette Rodriquez
2006, October 10-11: Dr. Linda Barnes