Religion and Politics

The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics serves as an open venue for fostering rigorous scholarship and informing broad academic and public communities about the intersections of religion and U.S. politics.

The Center's programs include the following:

  • Public lectures, conferences and symposia relating to issues at the many intersections of religion and U.S. public life
  • New courses on American religion and politics that can contribute to an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in religion and politics for Washington University students
  • American Religion, Politics, and Culture Colloquium for scholars and students to discuss cutting-edge research
  • Religion & Politics, an award-winning online journal engaging a diverse array of scholars, journalists, and public leaders

The Center offers a minor in religion and politics that provides an opportunity for sustained exploration of the ways in which religion and politics have intersected in American culture, in both historical and contemporary terms. As part of the minor, students may examine any number of issues, including church-state relations, religion’s role in shaping gender and sexuality debates, religion and electoral politics, public conflicts over the nexus of religion and science, and religion’s entwining with reform movements (from abolition to environmentalism). The Center’s interdisciplinary minor attracts students from many disciplines, including natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Whether students are pre-med, pre-law, or pursuing futures in education, business, or the arts, they report that their studies are enriched by our curriculum.

Contact Info

Contact:Leigh Schmidt
Phone:314-935-9345
Email:leigh.e.schmidt@wustl.edu
Website:http://rap.wustl.edu