Event Start: October 21, 2026 06:00 PM
Event End: October 21, 2026 08:00 PM
Event Location: Online (Zoom Webinar)
Event Price: Free
Event Details:
Online Film Screening & Post-Screening Conversation with Lois Capps, Laura Capps, Greg Johnson, Dusty Hoesly, Julie Ross, and other contributors to the film.
This 75-minute documentary introduces viewers to the life and legacy of Walter H. Capps and to the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Walter Holden Capps (1934-1997) was a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, from 1964-1996. His research and teaching focused on Christian theology and mysticism, monasticism, psychology of religion, theory and method in the study of religion, religion and politics in America, and religion and the impact of the Vietnam War. He published 15 books and many articles. His most famous courses were "Religion and the Impact of Vietnam" and "Voices of the Stranger," both of which regularly enrolled about 900 students. Walter’s sustained contributions to the humanities earned him praise as one of our nation’s most distinguished humanists. He was a leader of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Institute for Religious Studies, Council for the Study of Religion, California Council for the Humanities, National Federation of State Humanities Councils, and La Casa de Maria. He led Summer Institutes funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for over a decade. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat (CA-22), where he served from January 1997 until his death in October of that year. Walter and his wife Lois had three children: Lisa, Todd, and Laura.
The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life at the University of California, Santa Barbara, promotes discussion of how ethical teachings and values relate to civic life -- at the local, national, and global levels. The Capps Center is committed to the fundamental belief that public dialogue and an informed and engaged citizenry are vital to democratic society. Non-partisan and non-sectarian, the Center seeks to strengthen and extend the principles on which such diverse, modern society rests, namely, tolerance and respect for the views of others, the practice of civility, and efforts to achieve the common good.
Produced by the Walter H. Capps Center and Black Diamond Productions.
Director: Julie Ross.
Producer: Dusty Hoesly.
Executive Producer: Greg Johnson.
Writers: Julie Ross, Dusty Hoesly.