The annual Lutheran Studies Conference provides an opportunity for the university, the larger community, and persons from diverse religious and humanistic viewpoints to explore particular and pressing issues within the thoughtful and generous milieu of Lutheran higher education. Each conference welcomes scholars, artists, and religious leaders whose expertise is offered in an engaging and thought-provoking manner.
As a university of the church, PLU promotes the 500 year Lutheran tradition of asking difficult questions, welcoming opposing viewpoints in civil conversation, nurturing a community of intellectual charity, and challenging students, alumni, and friends to promote a just, peaceful, and sustainable way of life for all, not just the privileged few.
Past Conferences
- 2023 – Anxiety in an Age of Overwhelm: Gaining Understanding and Resilience
- 2022 – Resisting an Ancient Hatred: Antisemitism in Church and Society
- 2021 – Living with Mortality: Illness, Trauma, Joy and Hope
- 2020 – Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US
- 2019 – Naked and Unashamed (Gen 2:25): Sex, Shame and Faith
- 2018 – Black Bodies and the Justice of God
- 2017 – SING! 500 years of Faith, Reform and Liberation
- 2016 – Free at Last? Lutheran Perspectives on Racial Justice
- 2015 – Tikkun Olam: The Legacy and Future of Jewish – Christian Relations
- 2014 – Justice in Society: Lutheran Sources of Social Change
- 2013 – Lutheran Perspectives on Jesus of Nazareth
- 2012 – Political Life