Release date: Jan. 12, 2005

Emory's Robert Franklin Responds to Bill Cosby

Contact: Elaine Justice: 404-727-0643, elaine.justice@emory.edu
April Bogle: 404-712-8713, abogle@law.emory.edu

Theologian Robert M. Franklin will respond to comedian Bill Cosby's values crusade at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Emory Law School's Hunter Atrium, 1301 Clifton Road, Atlanta.

"Bill Cosby may be one of America's best comedians, but he sure knows how to make people mad," says Franklin, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory's Candler School of Theology and senior fellow in the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (CISR). "Since Cosby's values crusade began last May, I've heard a variety of reactions, but to my knowledge, no serious, community-based response to his call. We have an opportunity to respond in a more robust and coordinated way."

Franklin's talk is part of the Family Forum Series sponsored by the CISR. Titled "Cosby's Call and Our Response: What the Church and Community Should Do," the lecture offer a response that includes a village-wide conversation, curricula and training materials and funding. The event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are requested by phone at 404-712-8713 or e-mail to cisr@law.emory.edu by Jan. 24.

One of the most compelling contemporary voices in the field of theological education, Franklin is the former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta's center of historically African American religious training and graduate theological education. Franklin currently is writing a book titled "A Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities" as part of the CISR's project on "The Child in Law, Religion and Society."

The CISR is one of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Centers of Excellence. It brings together diverse academic perspectives to explore the influence of religious traditions on law, politics, society and culture. For more information, call 404-712-8710, or go to www.law.emory.edu/cisr/.

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