2023 Religion and Politics Small Grant Recipients

Congratulations to the 2023 Religion and Politics Small Grant recipients! 

  • Khasan Redjaboev (PhD candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Marika Olijar (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Khabibakhon Ubaydullaeva (History and Economics Research Group): The Effect of Religious Institutions on Gender Attitudes
  • Danissa Contreras Guzman (PhD student, University of Texas-Austin): Why the Left Uses Religion as a Political Strategy
  • James Kirk (PhD candidate, Notre Dame): Which Shepherds to Follow? Cross-Pressured Catholic Politics in a Polarized America
  • Brooklyn Walker (Asst. Prof, Hutchinson Community College): Scarcity, Abundance, and Enemies among American Christians

2024 Call for Award Nominations

Hubert Morken Award 

The Hubert Morken Award is given for the best book dealing with religion and politics published within the previous year. The criteria for the award include the originality of the argument presented, quality of the research, innovative methods, readability of the text and the policy or practical implications of the scholarship. To be eligible for the award, books must have been published in 2023. Nomination deadline: April 1, 2024. [For more information, go to 2024 Hubert Morken Best Book Award—Call for Nominations]

 

Award Committee:

 

 

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award 

The Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to the field of religion and politics. These contributions should be through a combination of excellent and widely influential scholarship, policy input/impact, public engagement, service, teaching, and mentorship. Nomination deadline: April 1, 2024.

 

Award Committee:

 

 

Weber Best Paper in Religion and Politics Award

Weber Best Paper in Religion and Politics Award recognizes the best paper dealing with religion and politics presented at the previous year’s APSA Annual Meeting (2023). The paper should address a timely and relevant topic, within the discipline and beyond, in a theoretically innovative and methodologically thorough manner. All papers presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting are eligible, regardless of modality of presentation (ie. in person, virtual/synchronous, and pre-recorded paper presentations are all eligible). Nomination deadline: April 1, 2024

 

Award Committee:

 

 

Aaron Wildavsky Best Dissertation Award

The Aaron Wildavsky Award recognizes the best dissertation in the field of religion and politics. Eligible dissertations have been defended in the last two years (2022 or 2023), and should make a distinctive contribution to the study of religion and politics, broadly understood. Nomination Deadline: April 1, 2024

 

Award Committee:

 

 

Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award

The Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award is given annually to a conference paper studying any aspect of religion and politics presented by a Ph.D. student in political science. The conference can be affiliated with any of the US-based political science associations or a conference affiliated with another association, such as the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the American Academy of Religion, the Middle East Studies Association, or the International Studies Association, as long as the paper was written by a student or students enrolled in a graduate program in political science and presented in 2022 or 2023. Papers written with faculty will not be considered. Papers presented at poster sessions are welcome. Nomination Deadline: April 1, 2024

 

Award Committee:

 

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award of the Religion & Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) recognizes outstanding scholars of religion and politics at the point of retirement (or shortly thereafter) who have made enduring contributions to the field through their scholarship, service, and mentorship. The award is intended to honor recipients who were regular and active Religion & Politics Section members during the periods of their primary contributions to the field. Anticipating that such scholars are exceptional, the call for nominations will remain open, the nominations will be confidential, and the award is not expected to be given every year. The Award committee will be composed of the Executive Committee of the Religion & Politics Section, chaired by the section chair, to whom nominations shall be addressed. Nomination Deadline: May 15, 2024

 

Award Committee:

  • David Buckley (chair, University of Louisville, david.buckley@louisville.edu)
  • Vineeta Yadav (Penn State University, vuy2@psu.edu)
  • Nandini Deo (Lehigh University, ndd208@lehigh.edu)
  • Paul Djupe (Denison University, djupe@denison.edu)
  • Luis Felipe Mantilla (University of South Florida, lfm1@usf.edu)
  • Eric McDaniel (University of Texas-Austin, emcdaniel@austin.utexas.edu)
  • Cammie Jo Bolin (SUNY-Albany, cbolin@albany.edu)
  • Sabri Ciftci (Kansas State University, ciftci@ksu.edu)

2024 APSA Annual Meeting Call for Proposals

The Religion and Politics Section invites scholars to submit papers, panels, posters, and other session formats on themes that connect religion and politics writ large. Understanding the role of religion in a democratic system is of great importance, including but not limited to investigations surrounding the compatibility of religious practices and beliefs with core democratic principles such as tolerance and pluralism. At the same time, the role of religious politics / ideologies in a wide range of political systems is crucial to making sense of today’s world and the present populist moment. In keeping with the 2024 APSA Theme “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” the Religion and Politics Section thus seeks contributions that examine the many ways religion intersects with the emergence and practice of democracy around the globe. We further invite discussion of the role of religion and politics scholars and educators in promoting democracy and pluralism through their research, teaching, and public engagement. We invite a diversity of methodological, theoretical and (inter-)disciplinary approaches covering any region or country. We encourage panels that are inclusive of all gender identities, races and ethnicities, academic positions/ranks, and types of institution.

Division Chairs: Nora Fisher Onar (University of San Francisco) and Jacob Neiheisel (University of Buffalo)

APSA Virtual Meeting Support Grants

The Religion and Politics Section is pleased to offer a limited number of support grants to assist with costs of registration for the 2024 APSA Virtual Meeting. All accepted to the Virtual Meeting for a presentation related to religion and politics are eligible to apply; the section especially welcomes applicants intending to join the section’s Research Group Workshop on Religion and Democracy. The maximum amount of this grant is $150, which is the non-member registration rate for the Virtual Meeting. The section intends these support grants to increase access to the Virtual Meeting, particularly for scholars with limited institutional resources to cover costs. To apply for a support grant, submit a letter of interest (including the proposed conference presentation) and an updated CV to apsa.religion.politics@gmail.com by 11:59 PM (E.T.) on November 9, 2023. Applicants will be notified of a decision on their application before the conference registration deadline.

Announcing New Section Officers

Religion and Politics’ work–the awards, the grants, the programming–wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of our section’s leadership and Executive Committee.

To our outgoing Chair, Güneş Tezcür, and outgoing Executive Committee members, Michael Driessen and Kikue Hamayotsu, we extend our sincere gratitude for your service. Thank you, too, to Shayla Olson, for her work with the section’s communications.

We are excited to introduce our new section leaders. David Buckley will be serving as Chair, assisted by Chair-Elect Vineeta Yadav. Nandini Deo, Paul Djupe, and L. Felipe Mantilla will continue their participation in the Executive Committee, joined by Eric McDaniel, Cammie Jo Bolin, and Sabri Ciftci.

We invite you to become acquainted with our officers through the bio pages provided on the Religion and Politics website.