In commemoration of Women’s History Month, Louisiana Tech University’s history department will co-host a discussion titled, “‘The Confident Woman’: Women’s Growing Authority in Evangelical Church,” by Dr. Charity Carney of Western Governors University. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 31 at the Lincoln Parish Library. During the presentation, Carney will recount the history of women’s participation in the evangelical church, trace the rise of female celebrity televangelists since the 1950s and show the ways that prominent female pastors today reflect women’s increasing authority in the modern Christian megachurch. Carney, who earned her doctorate degree in history at the University of Alabama, is the author of “Ministers and Masters: Methodism, Manhood, and Honor in the Old South.” She is also a columnist for the Daily Sentinel in Nacogdoches, Texas, and a regular contributor to the “Religion in American History” blog. This talk is based on Dr. Carney’s new book project, “The Making of the Southern Megachurch.” Carney’s talk is jointly sponsored by the Louisiana Tech history department, the Louisiana Tech chapter of the American Association of University Women, the Lincoln Parish Library, and the Lambda-Rho chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society. For additional information, contact Dr. David Anderson, associate professor of history and coordinator of Women’s History Month events, at (318) 257-2872 or by email at history@latech.edu. Written by Judith Roberts – jroberts@latech.edu