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 2024-25 Thompson Lecture
The Thompson Lecture will be held on Thursday, April 17th with guest speaker, Dr. Ayesha A. Irani
THE MUHAMMAD AVATARA:
Salvation History, Translation, and the Making of Bengali Islam
This lecture will examine the Nabivamsa of Saiyad Sultan, the first Bengla language biography of the Prophet Muhammad, revealing the power of vernacular transition in the Islamization of Bengal.
Dr. Ayesha Irani is an Associate Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. Her area of expertise is Islam in South Asia; literature and history of Bengal and Bangladesh; Sufism; Islamic art; translation studies, Middle Bangla Codicology. Ayesha Irani is a scholar of Islam in South Asia, with a particular interest in the early modern Islamic Bangla literature of Bengal and Arakan. She is the author of The Muhammad Avatāra: Salvation History, Translation, and the Making of Bengali Islam.
Thursday, April 17, 2025 – 4:15-6:00pm
Olmsted Room, Mandelle Hall
Kalamazoo College
A meet and greet reception will follow the lecture.
Past Guest Speakers
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