The New School for Social Research and its flagship journal, Social Research: An International Quarterly of the Social Sciences, will host the conference “The Religious-Secular Divide: The U.S. Case” from March 5–6 in the Tishman Auditorium at The New School. The conference will explore the historical tension between religion and secularity in the United States and investigate current trends, both public and personal, in the reemergence of faith-based decision-making.

Prominent scholars, experts, and professionals with backgrounds ranging from religious studies, legal studies, political science, sociology, to philosophy will address contemporary social issues, such as increasingly organized movements to include evolution and intelligent design in public education curriculums, the increased prominence of religious priorities in political decision-making, in governmental reliance on spiritual or faith-based philanthropy, and on the role of faith-based communities in lobbying for legislation and/or mobilizing voters to elect candidates.

Panelists include Noah Feldman, professor of Law at Harvard Law School widely known for his work in Iraq as an advisor in the early days of the Coalition Provisional Authority and for his book, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State; and Mark Lilla, professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and author of The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. The conference’s keynote address will be presented by Templeton Award winner and distinguished political philosopher Charles Taylor, professor emeritus of Philosophy at McGill University. Taylor will discuss the inevitable confusion resulting from an analysis of “secular” through its many historical meanings.

To view the conference agenda and speakers, visit the conference website .

The conference is the 20th in a series organized by The New School for Social Research’s award-winning journal, Social Research. This conference is made possible with generous support from the Russell Sage Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts.