Research Activities

Religion and Politics Seminar: Local and Global
This is open to the public.

The Seminar on Religion and Politics is an interdisciplinary collaboration among the Weatherhead Center, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. Initiative on Religious Freedom and its Implications at the Center for American Political Studies. The goal of the seminar is to critically explore the intersection of religion, law, and politics on the local and global levels. Its ongoing themes include the examination of political, legal, and philosophical dimensions of religion and public life: the effects of political and constitutional systems on religious liberty, the relations between religion and modernity, religion and gender equality, religion in international affairs, and the challenges of inter-religious relations. In 2012–2013, the seminar explores, through a series of invited presentations, the opportunities and dangers in comparing religious thoughts and religious practice.

The seminar is chaired by J. Bryan Hehir (Harvard Kennedy School), Ofrit Liviatan (Department of Government), Noah Feldman (Harvard Law School), and Nancy Rosenblum (Department of Government, on leave 2012–2013).

Current Academic Year

Past Seminar Schedules

Field of Interest: Comparative Politics
Seminar Chair(s)
Hehir, J. Bryan
Senior Adviser; Faculty Associate. Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life, Harvard Kennedy School; Secretary for Health and Social Services, Archdiocese of Boston.
Liviatan, Ofrit
Associate. Lecturer, Department of Government, Harvard University.
Feldman, Noah R.
Faculty Associate. Bemis Professor of International Law, Harvard Law School.
Rosenblum, Nancy L.
Senator Joseph S. Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Contact Information
Liviatan, Ofrit
Associate. Lecturer, Department of Government, Harvard University.