This Friday evening dinner and Invited keynote presentation by Dr. Arthur Jones will be part of an “immersive” weekend of events for participants of Project Renew, who are seeking to explore ways in which their commitment to issues of human dignity can be developed and expressed through active participation in various community-based initiatives. Dr. Jones’ keynote presentation will invite participants into an experiential discovery of the communal power of the tradition of sacred songs that were created and first sung by enslaved Africans in America in the 18th and 19th centuries. Participants will also learn about the history and work of The Spirituals Project, which was founded by Dr. Jones in 1998 and as an independent nonprofit organization. The Spirituals Project became an official program of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver in 2016.