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Dr. James E. Miller, associate professor of Chinese religions at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, will present a lecture entitled, "Towards an Ecologically Sustainable Future: The Role of Religion in 21st Century China," at 7 p.m. April 22 in the Lawson Auditorium of Maryville College's Fayerweather Hall.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

"James Miller works on some of the biggest questions of the early 21st century: about intersections between ancient faith traditions and our urgent environmental needs, about the significance other religions can have for understanding our own, and about China's return as a world leader," said Dr. Andrew Irvine, Maryville College assistant professor of philosophy, who invited Miller to the college. "His scholarship is imaginative, accessible and important."

In 2007, Miller was a visiting research professor at Fudan University School of Social Development and Public Policy in Shanghai. He was educated at Durham University, England (B.A., Chinese studies), Cambridge University, England (M.A., theological and religious studies) and Boston University (Ph.D.).

In the late 1980s, he studied overseas at People's University of China in Beijing and Taiwan Normal University.

Today, his main area of teaching and research is in Chinese religions, especially Daoism (also known as Taoism), which is the organized, indigenous religion of China. He has published four books on the topics of religion's influences on the view of nature and values and behaviors toward nature and environment in modern cultures.

He manages a large-scale academic Web site for research on Daoism, and also writes a blog called sustainable china that discusses his most recent research activities.

For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Irvine at 981-8340 or andrew.irvine@maryvillecollege.edu.