Head of Public Religion Research Institute Speaks at WC October

On Wednesday, October 2, the Louis L. Goldstein Program in Public Affairs at Washington College will host Robert Jones, founder and CEO of the D.C.-based Public Religion Research Institute, to talk about the changing face of religion and politics. Speaking at 5 p.m. in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, Jones will address “The Rise of the Unaffiliated in American Politics: The Declining Dominance of White Christian America,” drawing on his extensive academic background and themes he has explored in two books and countless articles on both religion and public policy.

Jones holds a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University and is on the editorial board for Politics and Religion, a journal of the American Political Science Association, writes a weekly “Figuring Faith” column for the Washington Post. and is frequently featured in major media outlets such as the New York Times, CNN, and NPR. He is author of Progressive & Religious: How Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist Leaders are Moving Beyond the Culture Wars and Transforming American Public Life, and Liberalism’s Troubled Search for Equality.

“Having been founded in 2009, PRRI has quickly established itself as one of the nation’s leading sources of analysis and information about religion and politics,” says Washington College political science professor Melissa Deckman, who is an Affiliated Scholar of the Institute. “Using original and unique survey research, Dr. Jones has become a leading national expert on how the rapidly changing religious environment in the United States will impact our politics in the years ahead.”

The Goldstein Program introduces students to exemplary leaders both in and out of government. On October 17 it will bring Washington College alumna Minty Abraham ’04, a senior program analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office to discuss America’s role in Uganda’s military campaign against warlord Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army.