Doug Winiarski ’92 was recently announced as one of the three 2018 Bancroft Prize winners for his book Darkness Falls on the Land of Light: Experiencing Religious Awakenings in Eighteenth-Century New England.
The Bancroft Prize is awarded annually by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. Winiarski’s book discusses the extensive history of popular religion in eighteenth century New England. The Omohundro Institute, an organization dedicated to early American history, reports that “The book focuses on the voices and experiences of the ordinary men and women who were the progenitors of today's evangelicals.”
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In addition to the Bancroft Prize, Darkness Falls on the Land of the Light was also awarded the 2017 Book of the Year by the Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. It was also awarded a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2017, and a finalist for the 2018 George Washington Prize (winner to be announced in May).
Winiarski is a professor of religious studies and American studies at University of Richmond and has been awarded many grants during his career from organizations such as the American Council of Learned Societies, the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. He received his master of theological studies from Harvard University and his doctorate of philosophy from Indiana University at Bloomington.
