Tag Archives: Spirituality / Religion

Scholars’ Circle – How Christian Nationalism affects elections in US ; Faith based Communities, a study – June 30, 2024

The rise of the religious right or Christian Nationalism aided in the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and has been a significant voting bloc ever since. How much is this movement driving American politics? How organized are the groups that comprise the movement? And what exactly is its political agenda? [ dur: 35mins. ]

Book cover : Faith and Community by Rebecca Glazier

Churches and congregations are facing decreased attendance and low enthusiasm from younger populations. How has civic engagement built their numbers? Doug Becker explores with the author of a new book – Faith and Community: How Engagement Strengthens Members, Places of Worship, and Society.on the topic. [dur: 23mins. ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Undoing of Separation between Church and State by SCOTUS – July 31, 2022

Thomas Jefferson once declared that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was intended to build a wall of separation between the church and state. Have the recent Supreme Court rulings eroded this purpose? And what do these ruling mean for the role of religion and lawmaking in the larger society across the United States? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Historic context of January 6, 2021 insurrection event ; Tracking the rise of Christian Nationalism and their effect on American Politics – June 19, 2022

January 6 insurrection has begun televised hearings of their findings. We examine the initial findings of this Committee and the role of former President Trump in the attempted coup. [ dur: 22mins. ]

The rise of the religious right or Christian Nationalism aided in the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and has been a significant voting bloc ever since. How much is this movement driving American politics? How organized are the groups that comprise the movement? And what exactly is its political agenda? [ dur: 35mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into hacking, fake news, paid troll and democracy -/- Politics of Muslim Americans – July 22, 2018

First, hacking, fake news, paid trolls both from within the country and from afar, are they destroying democracy? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Chris Tenove is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Ethics and the Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto. He studies international relations and political theory, with an emphasis on issues of global governance and global justice. He is also an award-winning freelance writer and broadcaster.
  • Jennifer Forestal is an Assistant Professor of Political Science (Theory) at Stockton University in New Jersey.

Then, what are the politics of Muslim Americans? And how might they be changing with the current political climate? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Emily Cury Tohma is a Research Fellow at Northeastern University’s Middle East Center. She’s the author of the research papers Muslim Americans and the 2016 Elections and Muslim American Policy Advocacy and the Palestinian Israeli Conflict: Claims-making and the Pursuit of Group Rights.
  • Aubrey Westfall is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wheaton College. She is the author of the research papers Gender and Political Behavior among Muslim Americans, The Complexity of Covering: The Religious, Social and Political Dynamics of Islamic Practice in the United States, and the forthcoming Islamic Headcovering and Political Engagement: The Power of Social Networks.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.