SMU tackles religion and politics in 21st century America

DALLAS (SMU) – Combining religion and politics in conversation is risky business, but SMU’s Center for Presidential History will spend the day Thursday, Nov. 6, analyzing the role of religion in America through a socio-political lens.

Co-sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, the conference examines new intersections for religion and politics in American life.  Panel discussions run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and Sen. John C. Danforth will deliver the keynote address from 7–8:30 p.m. 

The full day of programs is scheduled for the Martha Proctor Mack Grand Ballroom in Umphrey Lee Center, 3300 Dyer St. Participants are encouraged to come and go to accommodate individual schedules and interests.  The panel discussions and keynote are free and open to the public, but registration is required here . 

The conference will feature more than a dozen of today’s top scholars on the roles of religion in American history, speaking on topics ranging from Teaching About Religion in Red State America to Never Ending Mormon Moments.   In each presentation, scholars will explore a 21st-century issue in religion and politics, and then reach back into American History to provide context and explanation for the issue at hand.  

FAITH AND MODERN POLITICS – 8:30 AM

The Founding Fathers in Modern America – Kate Carte Engel (SMU)

Crude Awakenings in the Age of Oil– Darren Dochuk (Washington U.)

Never-Ending Mormon Moments – J. Spencer Fluhman (Brigham Young)

Religion and the ‘Outsider’ Candidates – Charles Irons (Elon)

RELIGION AND SOCIAL ISSUES – 10:00 AM

In the Bowels of a Free & Christian Country– Edward Blum (San Diego State)

Barack Hussein Obama: The First Muslim President? – Rebecca Goetz (NYU)

Immigrant Sanctuaries and Divine Borders – Arlene Sanchez-Walsh (Azusa Pacific)

The Blessings of American Pluralism – Kevin Schultz (U. Illinois-Chicago)

RELIGION AND POLICY – 1:00 PM

Teaching About Religion in Red State America – Mark Chancey (SMU)

The Welfare of Faith – Allison Collis Greene (Mississippi State)

Orchestrating Death from the Oval Office – Jennifer Graber (UT-Austin)

Faith in the Foreign Policy of Barack Obama – Andrew Preston (Cambridge)

TRANSITIONS IN POLITICS AND AMERICAN RELIGION – 2:30PM

The Resurrection of African-American Conservatives – Anthea Butler (UPenn)

The Rise of the ‘Nones’ – Matthew Hedstrom (Virginia)

Prepping for Doomsday – Matthew Avery Sutton (Washington State)

The End of the Evangelical Age – Steven P. Miller (independent scholar)

EVENING KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: 7:00-8:30 PM

Mending Broken Politics, Sen. John C. Danforth

The SMU conference is part of an ongoing series, the Danforth Distinguished Lectures, sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

The Center for Presidential History (CPH) at SMU exists to research and advance understanding of American presidential history.  The CPH pursues this goal primarily through two complementary methods: lectures, conferences and events on presidential history, and the Collective Memory Project, dedicated to enhancing the historical and archival record of various presidential administrations.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls approximately 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.

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