Luther's Nancy K. Barry selected for Lutheran Academy of Scholars seminar

Nancy K. Barry, Luther College professor of English and assistant dean, has been selected as a participant in the Lutheran Academy of Scholars 2011 Summer Seminar.

Barry will be one of a select group of leading scholars from educational institutions affiliated with the Luther church who will take part in the prestigious LAS seminar. Held at Harvard University June 20-July 1, the seminar will address issues of religious, social and cultural significance.

The summer seminar is the foremost of the Academy's programs that encourage scholars and promote scholarship, including faculty seminars, publication support and conference sponsorship. The Academy is directed by the Dovre Center for Faith and Learning at Concordia College.

In addition to her teaching and administrative duties at Luther, Barry has earned recognition as a playwright, author of nonfiction essays, and commentator on Iowa Public Radio. Among her most recent creative works is the one-woman play "Lessons from Cancer College," adapted from her memoir and performed across the Midwest by actress Kristen Underwood.  

A native of Baltimore, Barry holds the doctoral degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She teaches and directs a range of writing course and programs at Luther and in the University of Iowa's Summer Writing Festival.  

The Lutheran Academy of Scholars is a collaborative project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's colleges and universities designed to develop a Lutheran public voice speaking to important issues of our time and encourage intellectual leaders whose
faithfulness to a religious tradition informs their constructive engagement with the world.

About 80 faculty members from 23 ELCA institutions have participated in nine LAS seminars. More than 50 articles have been published as a direct result of the Lutheran Academy of Scholars' seminars.