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. For more information, contact Courtney Burns at [email protected]

Schedule of Events

Thursday, April 3rd
CB 

---

Friday, April 4th
CB 511

---

Participant Bios

---

Julie Ingersoll

Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Florida

Julie Ingersol 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, Ingersol 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.

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, Chair, Board of Trustees, Public Religion Research Institute, Washington, D.C.

Reverend Dr. Nathan C. Walker is a First Amendment and human rights educator. As president of 1791 Delegates—a public charity named after the year the Bill of Rights was ratified—he manages The Foundation for Religious Literacy and founded ReligionAndPublicLife.org. Dr. Walker teaches First Amendment law and human rights at Rutgers University and serves as the co-principal investigator with Dr. W. Y. Alice Chan of the Moral Imagination Community. In service to the field, he works as the associate editor of the peer-reviewed academic journal, Religion & Education, as an advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and on the boards of Abolitionist Sanctuary, Public Religion Research Institute, and Utah 3Rs Project. He serves as a member of the American Academy of Religion’s Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion and served on the writing team of the Religious Studies Companion Document for the C3 Framework for the National Council for the Social Studies.