The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly in Monteagle continues its 141st consecutive summer season of enrichment through Sunday, Aug. 6, featuring numerous visiting lecturers who will present morning and evening programs in the Auditorium that are open free of charge to the public; unless otherwise noted, morning lectures begin at 10:45 a.m. and evening lectures at 7:45 p.m. Anyone interested in a full schedule of the Monteagle Assembly’s 2023 program is welcome to pick one up at the Assembly Office (tel. (931) 924-2286), or to peruse the schedule on the Assembly’s website at <www.mssa1882.org>.

Two noted political analysts will share their thoughts about the media’s role in American election outcomes in an evening lecture Thursday, June 29. Larry Sabato, a well-known election prognosticator and professor of political science at the University of Virginia, will join Tennessean John Seigenthaler in conversation at the MSSA Auditorium at 7:45 p.m. that evening.

John Seigenthaler spent 11 years at NBC News, anchoring NBC Nightly News Weekend edition and appearing on Meet the Press, TODAY, and other well-known NBC news programs. He serves on the Freedom Forum board of trustees, the Peabody Awards board of jurors, and a member of the judging committee for the RFK Journalism Awards. He works in public relations and communications consulting in Nashville.

Larry Sabato is one of the nation’s most respected political analysts, appearing regularly on national and international TV news networks, including CNN, BBC, and CNN International. A Rhodes Scholar, Sabato founded and directs the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. He has written and edited two dozen books on American politics. You may know him from Sabato’s Crystal Ball, recognized by the Pew Charitable Trust as the best-rated political predictor. Sabato has won four Emmys for PBS documentaries and is a best-selling New York Times author.

Expect a lively discussion from two expert observers of our political and electoral system.

Our schedule this week also includes something for just about everyone on the Cumberland Plateau! We welcome Wall Street Journal writer Laura Saunders Tuesday morning to talk about “Death and Taxes: When Life’s Two Certainties Collide.” Saunders writes the Tax Report, the oldest column at the Journal and a favorite among readers. Saunders is a Sewanee undergraduate alumna who attended Columbia University for graduate school. Her program takes place in Warren Chapel.

Sewanee professor Chris McDonough presents the weekly Plateau talk & excursion on Wednesday. Through his work with filmmaker Stephen Garrett on the films “Mine 21” and “Ghosts of Lone Rock,” McDonough is committed to preserving and sharing the history of the Plateau. “Mine 21” won the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media in 2019, in addition to its acclaim during its run on PBS channels. McDonough and Garrett are now putting the finishing touches on “Ghosts of Lone Rock,” which looks at the Lone Rock Stockade in Tracy City, one of the largest private prisons that engaged in convict leasing. Sewanee Visiting Assistant Professor of History Camille Westmonth leads an excavation of the site to shed light on the dark history of the practice and place. McDonough will talk about his work collaborating on these two film projects Wednesday morning in Warren Chapel. After lunch, he will lead a visit to the Lone Rock Stockade Archaeology Project site.

Retired lawyer-turned-filmmaker Norman Jetmundsen will screen his film, “UNRIVALED,” about the undefeated 1899 Sewanee football team. A 1976 graduate of Sewanee, Jetmundsen teamed up with his classmate David Crews to create the documentary in 2016. The film, billed as “the ultimate David & Goliath story,” earned a regional Emmy nomination and inclusion in multiple film festivals. After a screening of the documentary Saturday at 7:45 p.m. in the Auditorium, Jetmundsen will host a Q&A about the Sewanee football team’s incredible season and his experiences writing, producing, and directing the film.

Additional events the third week of the Monteagle Assembly’s 2023 season include the following:

Tuesday, June 27, 7:45 p.m., Auditorium – Sewanee Summer Music Festival performance.

Thursday, June 29, 10:45 a.m., Warren Chapel – Liz Norell lectures on “Dispelling Myths About Autism in Adults.”

Friday, June 30, 10:45 a.m., Auditorium – Patrick Dean lectures about “Nature’s Messenger: Mark Catesby and His Adventures in a New World.”

Friday, June 30, 2:30 p.m., Writers’ Grove – Patrick Dean reads from his book, Mark Catesby and His Adventures in a New World. If there’s rain, this will be moved to Warren Chapel.

Saturday, July 1, 2:30 p.m., Writers’ Grove – Norman Jetmundsen reads from “The Soulbane Illusion.”

The Mission of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly is to be a welcoming community of Christian faith where people gather to engage in spiritual growth and renewal, lifelong inquiry and learning, recreational, and cultural enrichment, while being good stewards of our natural resources and our Assembly heritage.