Joyful, Anyway: A Public Conversation with Kate Bowler

The scholar and popular podcast host Dr. Kate Bowler explores the tension of life's overlapping deep ache and great joy during this public conversation. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required via the Duke Box Office. Registration opens for students on Tuesday, October 13, and for the general public on Thursday, October 15. Register here: https://duke.is/c/q56p Dr. Bowler hosts the award-winning podcast Everything Happens and is an associate professor of American religious history at Duke Divinity School. A five-time New York Times bestselling author, her most recent book is Joyful, Anyway. Also titled "Joyful, Anyway," the event is Duke Chapel's fifth annual William Preston Few Lecture. Chapel Dean Luke Powery will moderate the discussion. "One place where I will be expecting joy is in this conversation with my wise, warm, and funny friend and colleague Kate Bowler," Dean Powery said. "So many of us can relate to what she describes in Joyful, Anyway: We are beset by heartaches we don't expect and can't control, and yet 'joy reminds us that, no matter what, life is still worth loving.'" A scholar of the prosperity gospel in North America, Dr. Bowler was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age thirty-five, causing her to think in different terms about the research and beliefs she had been studying.

Last updated October 8, 2026