Religion, Politics, and Culture

Sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center and made possible by support from Joanne Blokker, the Mericos Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities

What role does religion play in human societies? Is religion merely a vehicle to pursue political and economic agendas? Or are politics and the pursuit of power merely means to serve religious ends? As any scholar of religion will readily admit, there is no satisfactory definition of “religion.” What “religion” means, and how it both influences and is shaped by society, varies across time and space. 

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This workshop is devoted to studying religion and the centrality of religious ideas, identities, rituals, and communities in shaping history and societies around the globe, from political thought and culture to historical figures, movements, and institutions, past and present. Our workshop invites scholars from across disciplines to explore the role of religion not merely as a political or social institution, nor as a cynical rhetorical device, but as a source of powerful ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and ways of being. All political and religious affiliations, or none whatsoever, are welcome.