Urbana University is welcoming Dr. John S. Haller Jr. as the annual Swedenborg Scholar in Residence. He will give a free public lecture titled “America’s Reform Tradition: Swedenborg, New-Church, and the Doctrine of Uses” at 7 p.m. Monday, March 20, in the campus Swedenborg Memorial Library. The campus is located at 579 College Way.

Haller says his talk “essentially asks the question how Emanuel Swedenborg could become associated with so many different belief systems, from Transcendentalism to homeopathy, osteopathy, the social gospel, new age healing, psychology, pragmatism, Zen Buddhism and spiritualism. How and why did his writings resonate with so many Christians and non-Christians alike, unburdening them of ancient rituals and dogma?”

Haller is the author of more than 20 books, including The History of New Thought: From Mind Cure to Positive Thinking and the Prosperity Gospel; Shadow Medicine: The Placebo in Conventional and Complementary Therapies, Kindly Medicine: Physio-Medicalism in America, 1836-1911; and A Profile in Alternative Medicine: The Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, 1845-1942

Haller received his degrees from Georgetown University, John Carroll University, and University of Maryland. He served as a professor of history and medical humanities. During his career, he has taught American intellectual history, Darwin and the Darwinian world, leadership and moral responsibility, and the history of medicine.

The Swedenborgian Church of North America funds the annual Swedenborg Scholar in Residence at Urbana University.

For more information about the Swedenborg Scholar in Residence program, contact Julie McDaniel, Librarian, at 937-772-9316 or [email protected].