Religious Historian decides to stay

One advantage to teaching at IU in the summertime is that the class sizes tend to be much smaller than during the academic year. Much to his satisfaction, such has been the case for fellow Quinton Dixie. With only ten students, his course "African American Religious History" is a near perfect size. "The students are very interested in the material," Dixie says. The eight-week course also includes material up to the Civil Rights Movement and the Nation of Islam in this country. In addition to a great deal of reading, Dixie has students view several films, including Eyes on the Prize, a film about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.

Dixie is in the process of completing a Ph.D. in Religious History for the Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. His dissertation, entitled "The Impact of American Business Culture on Black Baptist Identity," chronicles the 1880's merger movements in American business and the ways they affected the church's role in the community. Dixie argues that business culture caused a change in the Church's focus from doing good works to forming a more powerful corporate structure. Ironically, according to Dixie, many of the same forces that brought about the rise of power of the church also caused it to neglect somewhat the works that were its original concern.

For the last few years, Dixie has worked as an Assistant Editor for the Howard Thurman Papers Project. Howard Thurman was the African American theologian who established the first intentionally interracial churches in the United States. The project, when completed, will consist of five volumes. However, the project will have to continue without Quinton Dixie because he has decided to accept the Religious Studies Department's offer to continue at IU as a guest lecturer for the coming school year.