Chapman Explores Immigration in Britain

Alister Chapman, a British expat who serves as professor of history at Westmont, offers his European perspectives on how immigration has changed the continent Monday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge at Westmont’s Kerrwood Hall. The Paul C. Wilt Phi Kappa Phi Lecture, “Immigration: The Best Thing for Britain Since Sliced Bread?” is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact organizer Ray Rosentrater, professor of mathematics, at (805) 565-6185.

Chapman, who earned a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, has been teaching at Westmont since 2004. His research focuses on the impact of immigration and imperial decline on English society after 1945.

In May, Chapman wrote a review, “Can’t We All Just Get Along? Muslim immigrants to Britain and the claims of multiculturalism,” for the May/June issue of Books and Culture. Last year, he published an article “The International Context of Secularization in England: The End of Empire, Immigration, and the Decline of Christian National Identity, 1945-70” in the Journal of British Studies. He won a Christianity Today Book Award in 2013 for “Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement.” He earned the Wesmtont Faculty Research Award in 2013 and was Westmont Teacher of the Year (Social Sciences) in 2008. He is a frequent contributor to The World Post, a partnership of the Huffington Post and Berggruen Institute.

Charles Farhadian, professor of religious studies, and Heather Keaney, associate professor history and co-director of Westmont in Istanbul, will respond to Chapman’s lecture.