Humanities & Society

In the years leading up to the Revolution, Protestant preachers, sometimes referred to as the “black-robed regiment,” used biblical texts and spiritual ideas to reframe the treasonous act of rebellion into righteous moral duty, according to Mark Valeri, vice director of the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.

Over the last few decades, Christianity in America has become synonymous with conservative causes. But it wasn’t always that way. As faith leaders join protesters in the Twin Cities, they’re showing the next generation of American young people that there are multiple ways to be a Christian, according to Ryan Burge, an expert in religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis.

A new federal government interpretation allowing churches to endorse political candidates will cause division in churches and sets the stage for the U.S. government to favor politically aligned religions, says Mark Valeri, an American religious historian at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Rev. Callista Isabelle, the inaugural director for religious, spiritual and ethical life at WashU, received this year’s Gloria W. White Distinguished Service Award, which is given to a staff member who exceeds their daily work duties to make a positive impact on employees and the university at large.

Rebecca Messbarger, professor of Italian in Arts & Sciences, has published a chapter titled “Popes, the Body, Medicine, and the Cult of Saints after Trent” as part of “The Cambridge History of the Papacy, Volume III: Civil Society.”

Cal Halvorsen, an associate professor at the Brown School, served as adviser on a CoGenerate survey on faith communities and engagement.

Fighting rising antisemitism in the U.S. will require a dramatic shift in civility and a renewed focus on teaching history and religion, according to Mark Oppenheimer, at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. “The humanities don’t inoculate against hatred, but they give us the tools to fight it.”

Abram Van Engen, chair of the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, has been named the next director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. Van Engen has published widely on religion and literature.

Mark Valeri, director of WashU’s John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, received the American Society of Church History’s annual award for best book on Christianity’s history by a North American scholar.