Cults, Sects, “Fringe Groups” in American History

Thursday, October 21 from 5:30 – 7:00pm via Zoom
Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning (GMALL) welcomes back Dr. Phillips Stevens, Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, to talk about cults, sects and “fringe groups” in American History. Exclusive, narrowly focused social groups with aberrant social and/or theological ideologies are surprisingly common throughout American history. Some are psychologically damaging, a very few are violent (and many of the worst are imaginary!), but most are benign. All require sacrifice of some things of personal value, like family relationships and material wealth. Why do people join such organizations? Describing some representative groups from different historical periods, this talk provides some answers to that question. Registration is $18 per person. For more information or to register, please call our office at 802-867-0111 or visit www.greenmtnacademy.org.