Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life
About the Initiative
Wake Forest University School of Divinity’s Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life is a scholarly hub for critically examining how religion influences American public life and democracy. The initiative builds on the school’s ecumenical and interfaith commitments and, most recently, on the 2023 Elizabeth and Robert Strickland Symposium, “Religion, Pluralism, and the Fate of Democracy.” Through lectures, seminars, and public discussions by Wake Forest faculty and other leading scholars, the initiative aims to create unique intellectual spaces to engage some of the most challenging issues facing society and humanity.
“This initiative will provide the University and the broader public with essential resources to deepen civil discourse and civic engagement in a time when both are critical to our future. I applaud the School of Divinity for boldly engaging in this important work.”
Susan R. Wente, President
View the Announcement
At the installation service of Corey D. B. Walker as Dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, President Susan R. Wente announced she has committed funding to support the initiative on “Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life” that will be based at the School of Divinity.
Program for 2024-2025
The Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life inaugural program for 2024-2025 will focus on the theme “Across the Borders of Tradition: Conversations in Jewish and Christian Thought and Theology.” Over the course of the year, the initiative will feature some of the nation’s leading theologians and scholars of religion examining the intersections of Christian and Jewish thought and theology, new directions in Jewish and African American religious thought and theology, and religion, pluralism, and democratic futures.
“In a moment when our nation is embroiled in an intense struggle over the very substance of democracy in America, an understanding of how religion fuels our highest aspirations and animates our deepest fears is needed now more than ever.”
Corey D. B. Walker, Dean and Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities
Spotlight
Recent resources featuring Wake Forest University School of Divinity faculty engaging religion, politics, and American public life.
Publications
Report | Maintaining International Religious Freedom as a Central Tenet of US National Security
Report | A Time to Heal, A Time to Build
Essay | “Between Anguish and Hope: A Response to Some Critical Re-visions of Liberation Theology”
Book | Sabrina E. Dent and Corey D. B. Walker, ed., African Americans and Religious Freedom
Commentary | “Religious Freedom’s Racial Reckoning”
Media
Article | “United Methodist Church Votes to End Ban on Ordaining Gay Clergy”
Op-Ed | “The desire for retaliation is a fool’s errand”
Op-Ed | “Revisiting ‘natural law’ and gun rights”
Op-Ed | “Republicans, Democrats, PHNs and cutting the baby in half”
Op-Ed | “Religious Freedom in America is protected for some more than others”
Op-Ed | “Black, Jewish Americans have vested interests in fighting racism, anti-Semitism”
Podcast | “Why Professor Corey D.B. Walker Looks to the Past to Understand Today’s Complex World”
Podcast | “Losing Sleep Before God” featuring Bill Leonard and Corey D. B. Walker
Events
Panel | “The Legacy of the Baptist Wars, Christian Nationalism, & the Fate of Democracy in America”
Lecture | “Abolition Christianity: Ministry Beyond Empire”
Conversation | “A Commonwealth of Hope: Reimagining Augustine’s Political Thought”
Panel | “Religion, Pluralism, and the Fate of Democracy”
Panel | “Founding Religious Freedom”