The Institute for Faith & Culture’s (IFC) spring series, “Think on These Things,” continues March 17 with versatile scholar and author Matthew Dickerson, Ph.D.

Dickerson’s expertise in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the Inklings has earned international recognition. He fosters additional interest in multiple subjects including fly fishing, ecology, computational geometry, and medieval literature, among others. Currently he is professor of computer science at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where he has served for nearly three decades.

On Monday, March 17 at 9:15 a.m. Dickerson will present “With Speech into the Unspeaking: Attentiveness to God’s Handiwork and the Christian Ecological Imagination” in King’s Memorial Chapel. That evening at 7 p.m. he will offer “Hope and Lament in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth” at Central Presbyterian Church in Bristol, Virginia. Both events are free of charge and open to the public.

“From his books on Middle-earth and Narnia, to his own epic fantasy novels, to his examination of AI and faith, Dr. Dickerson offers an amazing perspective and outlook on our physical, spiritual, and philosophical worlds,” said Martin Dotterweich, Ph.D., director of the IFC. “As you can imagine, talking with someone who is internationally known as an Inklings expert and who has also served as a newspaper columnist, blues musician, beekeeper and maple sugar farmer lends extraordinary breadth and depth to any conversation, and we look forward to sharing in far-ranging and thought-provoking discussions.”

Dickerson is the author of multiple books including “The Mind and the Machine: What it Means to be Human and Why it Matters,” a three-volume epic fantasy novel collectively titled “The Daegmon War,” and two works of narrative non-fiction exploring trout and rivers, “Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing, and the Waters of Appalachia,” and “Trout in the Desert: on Fly Fishing, Human Habits, and the Cold Waters of the Arid Southwest.”

His additional works center on the ecological and environmental aspects of the works of Tolkien and Lewis, as well as the life of singer-songwriter Mark Heard.

A Massachusetts native, Dickerson earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his doctorate in Computer Science from Cornell University. For more than a decade he was the director of the New England Young Writers Conference at Bread Loaf, Vermont, and is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.