This interdisciplinary symposium will explore the role of religion in American political culture with a focus on how religious ideas and movements function in the exercise of political power. Scholars from a variety of disciplines will engage questions related to Christian Nationalism, First Amendment law, and the role of religion in American public life. Questions include: What are the implications of Christian Nationalism for civic culture in the United States and beyond? Which religious movements have most impacted American law and policy? What are the implications for maintaining a healthy public square?
The symposium is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed and recorded
via YouTube Live. For more information, contact Courtney Burns at [email protected]
Schedule of Events
Friday, April 4th
UVU Clarke Building, Room 511
Participant Bios
Julie Ingersoll
Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Florida
Julie Ingersoll is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville where she teaches and writes about religion in American culture, focusing especially on religion and politics and the religious right. Originally from Maine, Ingersoll earned a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of California Santa Barbara, as well as degrees in history from George Washington University and political science from Rutgers College. She started studying religion as an undergraduate because she was interested in politics, and they seemed so intertwined. The more she studied the more she came to see that to be true.
Matthew Taylor
Senior Protestant Scholar, Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, Baltimore, MD
Matthew D. Taylor is the Senior Protestant Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, where he specializes in American Christianity, American Islam, Christian extremism, and religious politics. His new book, The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement that is Threatening Our Democracy (Broadleaf, 2024), tracks how a loose network of charismatic Christian leaders called the New Apostolic Reformation was a major instigating force for the January 6th Insurrection and is currently reshaping the culture of the religious right in the U.S. He is also the author of Scripture People: Salafi Muslims in Evangelical Christians’ America (Cambridge, 2023). Taylor holds a PhD in religious studies and Muslim-Christian relations from Georgetown University and an MA in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He also serves as an associate fellow at the Center for Peace Diplomacy in New Orleans, where he works on preventing religion-related violence surrounding U.S. elections.
Nathan Walker
President, 1791 Delegates
Lecturer & Honors College Faculty Fellow, Rutgers University
Dr. Nathan C. Walker is an award-winning instructor of First Amendment law and religious studies at Rutgers University, where he teaches AI Ethics & Law as an Honors College faculty fellow, and directs the AI Ethics Lab. Dr. Walker also serves as President of 1791 Delegates, a nonprofit public charity named after the year the Bill of Rights was ratified. In this role, he founded ReligionAndPublicLife.org, the social learning community where 3,000 users enroll in free online courses. He has authored five books on law, education, and religion, and presented his research at the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United States Senate. Nate has three learning disabilities and earned his doctorate in First Amendment law and two master’s degrees from Columbia University, and has served as a visiting researcher at Oxford and Harvard Universities.
