Danforth Center on Religion and Politics

Questions about Amy Coney Barrett’s religious affiliation and beliefs have dominated public discussion since President Trump announced that she was his pick to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. While her Catholicism is considered controversial by some, should it impact her confirmation? A Washington University in St. Louis law professor weighs in.

Bridging divisions in religion and politics will be the topic of a series of interdisciplinary panels, beginning Tuesday, Feb. 6, sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis’ John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

Former U.S. Sen. John C. “Jack” Danforth will discuss “Preserving a United Nation: Moving Forward Together Despite Our Differences,” from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, in Knight Hall’s Emerson Auditorium at Washington University in St. Louis. 

As America grapples with recent acts of violence against its Jewish and Muslim communities, leaders from these groups will explore responses based on partnership and solidarity in a public forum at 7 p.m. March 8 in Graham Chapel on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

A new Abram Van Engen class, “City on a Hill,” teaches students to think critically about America’s place in the world.

As public rhetoric inflames and divides, the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics cultivates rigorous scholarship to build bridges and broaden understanding of America’s most contentious issues.

Laurie Maffly-Kipp, PhD, the Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor in the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, was recently elected president of the the Mormon History Association.

Mark Valeri, PhD, widely regarded as one of the most eminent scholars of American religion during the Revolutionary War era, was installed Feb. 24 as the Reverend Priscilla Wood Neaves Distinguished Professor of Religion and Politics.

In the 1920s and ’30s, African-American preachers spread the word to a mass audience one phonograph record at a time. A new book by Lerone Martin, PhD, of the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, chronicles a forgotten era when sermons by African-American clergy on vinyl (and wax) outsold popular performers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.

Stephen Prothero, PhD, professor of religion at Boston University and author of numerous books, will explore America’s cultural rifts from a historic perspective for the Assembly Series. The program, free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in Knight Hall’s Emerson Auditorium. His presentation, “Why Liberals Win: America’s Culture Wars from the Election of 1800 to Same-Sex Marriage,” is a Danforth Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.