Schmidt is widely published as a cultural historian, essayist and reviewer, who has written extensively on American spiritual seeking, holiday conflicts, evangelical Protestantism and liberal religious traditions. His numerous publications include Heaven’s Bride: The Unprintable Life of Ida C. Craddock, American Mystic, Scholar, Sexologist, Martyr, and Madwoman (2010); Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality (2005; updated 2nd ed., 2012); Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays (1995); and Hearing Things: Religion, Illusion, and the American Enlightenment (2000), winner of the 2001 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in Historical Studies and the 2001 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association.
Leigh Eric Schmidt
Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of the Humanities
Contact Information
- Phone: 314-935-9345
- Email: leigh.e.schmidt@wustl.edu
- Website: Website
Media Contact
In the media
From 4-leaf clovers to some unexpected history, all you need to know about St. Patrick’s Day
Leigh Eric Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor
Advent calendars are raking it in while counting it down
Leigh Eric Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor
‘The Church of Saint Thomas Paine’ Review: Prophets of American Secular Religion
Leigh Eric Schmidt, Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor
How Military Moms Changed the History of Mother’s Day
Leigh Schmidt, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Sciences
Ask An Atheist
Leigh Schmidt, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Sciences
How Should Atheism Be Taught?
Leigh Schmidt, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Sciences
Distrust of Nonbelievers in America
Leigh Schmidt, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Sciences
How distrust of unbelievers runs deep in American history
Leigh Schmidt, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Sciences
Stories
Scholars of religion and politics respond to the Capitol insurrection
Leaning on their expertise in history, ethics and religious studies, faculty from the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics reflect on the Jan. 6 Capitol Insurrection.
Monuments to unbelief
In such times – when white evangelicals gave the world Donald Trump – the God of the U.S. might well deserve anew the irreverence of Paine, Ingersoll, Darrow and Roman. The architects of the Satanic Temple, Greaves and company are among the latest bearers of that humanistic, freethinking impertinence.
Schmidt’s book named one of fall’s ‘most anticipated’
“Village Atheists: How America’s Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation,” the most recent book by Leigh Eric Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities, has been named by Publishers Weekly to its list of most anticipated books of fall 2016.
Lecture series examines intersection of religion, medicine, law
Issues at the crossroads of religion, medicine and law will be the focus as the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics opens its fall lecture series Thursday, Sept. 10, with a talk on “Obamacare and American Values.”
Christmas culture wars are nothing new, experts say
Tis the season for perennial battles between true believers and
atheists, between mass marketers and the devout souls who worry about
blatant commercialization of “the holiday season.”
While it may seem like it’s getting worse then ever, learning more
about the facts behind these arguments might help all of us understand
one another a bit better, suggest legal and religious history experts at
Washington University in St. Louis.
A ‘War on Christmas?’ Let’s talk, religious historian says
Ah, the Christmas season. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time to celebrate peace, love and the religious beliefs of America’s religious majority – whether you like it or not.
‘Taking Christ out of Christmas’ is nothing new, historian says
While many may see “taking Christ out of Christmas” as a recent phenomenon, the roots of secular Christmas celebrations and commercialization go deep into American history, says Anne Blankenship, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at the John C. Danforth Center for Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Books
Village Atheists
How America’s Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation
What does it mean to be atheist in America? Leigh Eric Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, tells the history of American secularism in his book Village Atheists.