By Andrea Estrada

As a professor of religious studies at UC Santa Barbara for more than three decades, Walter Capps influenced thousands of students. Many went on to careers in teaching and research and carried his legacy into their own work, even as he charted a new path as an elected official.

Several of these students will return to UCSB next week for a two-day scholarly conference titled “Exploring the Contributions of Walter Capps to the Study of Religion.” They will join some of Capps’s former academic colleagues in sketching the reach of this scholar-public servant.

Presented by the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life, the conference begins at 9 a.m. on both days, May 9 and 10, in the McCune Conference Room, 6020 Humanities and Social Sciences Building. It is free and open to the public as are most events in a yearlong series commemorating the 10th anniversary of Capps’s death.

“This conference is both a remembrance and a celebration of Walter Capps’s many contributions as scholar, teacher, public figure, and congressman,” said Wade Clark Roof, professor of religious studies and director of the Capps Center. “Walter believed that ‘democracy begins in conversation,’ and in that spirit we hope to carry forward the conversation about how we in the university and in the community—citizens all— can be enriched by what he taught us.”

Said Richard Hecht, professor of religious studies and the conference organizer: “Walter authored several books on important theological traditions in Europe, a series of important books on religion and politics, and books on religion and psychology, mysticism, and monasticism. All of these have become significant contributions to the study of religion in the 21st century.”

Among Capps’s former students attending the conference are David Chidester, chair of the Department of Comparative Religion at the University of Capetown, South Africa; Edward Linenthal, a professor of history at Indiana University and editor of the Journal of American History; and Sarah McFarland Taylor, an associate professor of religion at Northwestern University.

In addition, Giles Gunn, professor of English and chair of the campus’s global and international studies program, will discuss Capps’s contributions to the study of religion and American literature as well as religion and global studies.

Capps was elected to the House of Representatives from California’s 23rd Congressional District in 1996. He suffered a fatal heart attack in October of 1997, just 10 months after taking office. His widow, Lois, succeeded him in Congress. For more on the conference, go to <www. cappscenter.ucsb.edu/cal.html > or call x2317.