JBU News & Information

SILOAM SPRINGS, Arkansas (Feb. 25, 2026) – John Brown University will host former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft for its annual Ray and Laurine Barnett Civic Leadership Series to present "America250 and the Future of Liberty" on Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. in Simmons Great Hall B.

Ashcroft served as Missouri governor from 1985 to 1993 and as a Missouri senator from 1995 to 2001, before becoming the 79th U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005.

"John Ashcroft has served the American people at both the state and federal levels during defining periods in our nation’s history," said Daniel Bennett, Ph.D., professor of political science and director of the Center for Faith and Flourishing. "His visit reflects JBU's commitment to engaging with figures who have shaped American public life. We look forward to a thoughtful conversation about leadership, governance and the challenges facing the country today."

The Ray and Laurine Barnett Civic Leadership Series, established in 2016, is funded by an endowment created with gifts from the Barnett family and donations from more than 20 organizations and individuals. The series, which brings a speaker to JBU each academic year, focuses on Christian leadership and addresses the intersection of faith and public service.

Past speakers include Alveda C. King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr.; Mike Huckabee and Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas governors; Chief Judge Lavenski Smith; Philip Todd, JBU alumnus and chief economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security; Molly Rapert, associate professor of marketing at the University of Arkansas; Shapri LoMaglio, vice president for government and external relations at the CCCU.

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Faith and Flourishing and JBU's student chapter of TPUSA. It is free and open to the public.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and No. 2 private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Twelve graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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SILOAM SPRINGS, Arkansas (Feb. 24, 2026) — John Brown University will host classicist and historian Nadya Williams, Ph.D., for its Honors University Lecture on Monday, March 2, at 3:30 p.m. in Simmons Great Hall C.

Williams will lecture on “The Classics and Spiritual Formation in the Year of America’s 250th: Why Jerusalem Still Needs Athens in the Age of AI.” She will examine what we lose when we neglect the classics and why America, a country founded by people who were grounded in the classics, still needs Athens in the age of artificial intelligence.

Williams is the author of "Cultural Christians in the Early Church" (Zondervan Academic, 2023), "Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic: Ancient Christianity and the Recovery of Human Dignity" (IVP Academic, 2024) and "Christians Reading Classics" (Zondervan Academic, 2025). She is books editor at Mere Orthodoxy, where she hosts the "Christians Reading Classics" podcast. She is also a contributor at Christianity Today, a contributing editor at Front Porch Republic and Providence Magazine, and featured author at Fairer Disputations. 

"Dr. Williams is one of the best thinkers today on the relationship between the ancient classics and spiritual formation," said Ryan Butler, Ph.D., director of Honors Scholars Program. "The old question about the best of pagan learning and the Christian life — what Athens has to do with Jerusalem — is as relevant now as ever, and I’m excited that Dr. Williams will be taking up this topic with the JBU and wider community. She is a learned and trusted guide who pushes our thinking in all the right directions and especially so as we navigate the path of discipleship in the AI age.

Williams is a homeschool mom, writer and editor based in Ashland, Ohio, where she serves as interim director of the MFA in Creative Writing at Ashland University. 

The lecture is sponsored by JBU's Honors Scholars Program. It is free and open to the public.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and No. 2 private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Twelve graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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SILOAM SPRINGS, Arkansas (Feb. 3, 2026) – John Brown University’s "Abila Lecture in Biblical Archaeology" series is pleased to welcome Paul Trebilco, Ph.D., to campus for its 19th lecture.

Trebilco will present “New Insights into Christianity in Ephesus” on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Ozarks. This lecture will provide attendees with the fascinating archaeological evidence of the Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers and the Cave of Paul and Thecla.

Trebilco is professor of New Testament studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand. From 2013–2017, he was the general editor of the Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series, published by Cambridge University Press. In 2017, Trebilco was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 

He has published work on the Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Paul, Early Christians in Ephesus, the relationship of scripture and church tradition, and the self-designations used by the earliest Christians in the New Testament.

"Dr. Paul Trebilco is eminently qualified to give our lecture this year. He is a specialist in the New Testament and Early Judaism and has published extensively on the material cultural and literary world of Early Christianity, especially in Ephesus," said Dave Vila, Ph.D., director of the Abila Archaeological Project and JBU distinguished professor of religion and philosophy. "His lecture on the early Christian account of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and the Cave Church of Paul and Thecla is sure to be both interesting and informative. I’m so very happy that Dr. Trebilco is able to join us this spring at John Brown University."

Vila said the purpose of the "Abila Lecture in Biblical Archaeology" series is to connect both the JBU community and the broader community in Northwest Arkansas with the best and latest in the archaeology of the biblical and Early Christian worlds.

The biannual lecture series promotes the understanding of archaeology and history of the biblical world. Lectures in the fall semester typically focus on the Old Testament and its world, while lectures in the spring semester focus on the world of the New Testament and Early Christianity. The series is funded by donors to JBU’s Abila Archaeological Project, which excavates in Northern Jordan at Abila of the Decapolis. The project started in 1980 and was adopted by JBU in 2013.

The lecture is free and open to the public, and JBU invites students, faculty and community members to attend.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and No. 2 private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Twelve graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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SILOAM SPRING, Arkansas (Jan. 26, 2026) — John Brown University invites the community to the conversation “No Room for Compromise: Religious Polarization in the United States” with guest scholar Ryan Burge, Ph.D.

The discussion will take place on Monday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. in Simmons Great Hall at JBU. The event, sponsored by JBU’s Center for Faith and Flourishing and department of political science, is free and open to the public.

Religious identity has become a powerful marker of political loyalty in the United States, and the distance between groups keeps widening. What does this mean for the future of American politics and society? Burge will show how decades of shifting allegiances, demographic changes and cultural conflicts have led to today’s climate of religious polarization and explain where we might go from here. If you want to better understand key forces reshaping American public life, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Burge is a nationally recognized scholar of religion, politics and public life. A professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University, he is known for his clear and compelling analysis of how faith shapes American political behavior. He is the author of several books, including "20 Myths About Religion and Politics in America," "The Great Dechurching" and "The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us." Burge’s work regularly appears in major outlets such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and "60 Minutes."

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and No. 2 private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Twelve graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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SILOAM SPRING, Arkansas (Jan. 12, 2026) — John Brown University invites the community to the opening reception for “Painting the Arkansas Parks” on Thursday, Jan. 15.

The opening reception will take place at the Windgate Art West Gallery on the campus of JBU from 6 to 8 p.m. It will include remarks by guest speaker Kayla Gomance with Arkansas State Parks, a live painting demonstration and refreshments. It is free and open to the public.

The exhibit, sponsored by the Heart of America Artists’ Association and JBU’s department of visual arts, features artwork inspired by Arkansas State Parks and will be on display until Sunday, Feb. 8.

Starting in March 2022, the Heart of America Artists Association launched a series of plein air (outdoor painting) events across the five major geographical regions of Arkansas, honoring the state's parks. Starting this January, the “Painting the Arkansas Parks” exhibition will travel throughout the state of Arkansas where artists will exhibit a sizable artwork, along with a smaller étude (study) that inspired it, which they acquired through their participation in one of the park events. These events will be in coordination with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas State Parks.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and top-ranked private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Fourteen graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.