Author Archives: Shayla Olson

Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to John C. Green, James L. Guth, Lyman A. “Bud” Kellstedt, and Corwin E. Smidt

The Religion and Politics (R&P) Section is proud to announce the establishment of the Lifetime Achievement Award, meant for scholars at the point of retirement who, as section members, have contributed to the field in profound ways through their research, mentorship, and service. It is especially fitting that our inaugural award reflects on the beginning of the section, as the awardees were integral to its founding and have been towering figures shaping how the study of American religion and politics has been conducted and who has conducted it in more than three decades. As David E. Campbell and Geoffrey Layman write in their nomination letter, “intellectually, Green, Guth, Kellstedt, and Smidt were pioneers in the early study of religion in political science, and American politics specifcally.”

The contributions of the four scholars are vast, proving a model that research productivity takes institutions in order to have an impact. What is perhaps even more remarkable about these recipients is that they achieved so much at liberal arts colleges without graduate students, though they sent to graduate school a long list who would become distinguished scholars themselves. They were generous with co-authorship, gathered and shared data relentlessly, and diligently sought funds to provide graduate training in American religion and politics in summer sessions from which many dozens of scholars across disciplines have benefited. It is little wonder why so many R&P scholars consider them mentors and friends and owe them sizable debts of gratitude.

It is hard to convey how important it was for young scholars to see R&P scholars like these four publishing in the top journals in the field and landing book contracts at respected presses. Their efforts provided much-needed credibility to the fledgling field, enabling others to build on their successes. They demonstrated the relevance of religion throughout American politics on the environment, immigration, abortion, partisanship, and through political movements like the Christian Right, among other things.

Their scholarship is deeply concerned with how to measure American religion while making valuable theoretical contributions about how religious identities, attitudes, and activities afect Americans’ political behavior. They helped make sense of the tangled thicket of American Protestantism, providing the field with a sensible and efficient way of conceptualizing and measuring religion that could be used in a wide variety of contexts and that is employed in a huge range of survey contexts including the ANES, Pew, CES, and many others.

Though we do not anticipate that this will set precedent for future awards, the section is proud to announce the inaugural recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award as “The Gang of Four”: John C. Green, James L. Guth, Lyman “Bud” Kellstedt, and Corwin E. Smidt.

2023 APSA Religion & Politics Award Winners!

Congratulations to our 2023 APSA Religion & Politics Award Winners!

Ted Jelen Best Journal Article Award

Winner: Shakhanova, Gaziza, and Petr Kratochvíl. “The Patriotic Turn in Russia: Political Convergence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the State?.” Politics and Religion 15, no. 1 (2022): 114-141.

Honorable Mention: Bleich, Erik, Jeffrey Carpenter, and A. Maurits van der Veen. “Assessing the Effect of Media Tone on Attitudes Toward Muslims: Evidence From an Online Experiment.” Politics and Religion 15, no. 3 (2022): 441-461.

Aaron Wildavsky Best Dissertation in Religion and Politics Award

Winner: Amy Lakeman, When Theology Responds: How Politics Shapes Religious Belief

Hubert Morken Best Book in Religion and Politics Award

Winner:  H. Zeynep Bulutgil, The Origins of Secular Institutions: Ideas, Timing, and Organization

Honorable Mention: Diego Fossati, Unity through Division: Political Islam, Representation and Democracy in Indonesia

Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award

Winner: Feyaad Allie (“The Representation Trap: How and Why Muslims Struggle to Maintain Power in India”)

Weber Best Conference Paper in Religion and Politics Award

Winner: Feyaad Allie (“The Representation Trap: How and Why Muslims Struggle to Maintain Power in India”)

Honorable Mention: Rajeshwari Majumdar, Richard Bonneau, Jonathan Nagler, and Joshua A. Tucker (“Reducing Prejudice and Support for Religious Nationalism Through Conversations on WhatsApp”)

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar in Religion and Politics Award

Winners: Ron Hassner (University of California, Berkeley)

Religion & Politics Section 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.

Nominations should be submitted to the section chair by e-mail (at tezcur@ucf.edu) no later than May 15 preceding the business meeting of the section at APSA Conference 2023 where the candidate would be honored. The executive committee will decide whether to grant at most one of the awards by August 1, 2023 preceding the business meeting, where the recipient will be honored with a plaque and a prize of $500. Award recipients will also receive a feature describing their contributions on the section website.

2022 Small Grants Award Recipients

Congratulations to our 2022 APSA Religion & Politics Small Grants Award recipients!

  • Tenzin Dorjee (Ph.D. candidate, Columbia University) – Religious Routes to Conflict Mitigation: Buddhism, Nationalism and Radicalization in Tibet
  • Alejandro Lopez-Peceno (Ph.D. candidate, NYU) – The Political Consequences of Religious Schooling: Evidence from 19th Century France
  • Yehia S. Mekawi (Ph.D. candidate, Michigan) – Accepting the Olive Branch? Muslim Leadership and State Accommodation in Belgium and the Netherlands
  • Rajeshwari Majumdar (Ph.D. candidate, NYU) – Citizen Reactions to False Equivalences in Religious Nationalist Rhetoric
  • Hilary Zedlitz (Ph.D. candidate, Michigan) – Hiding Your Religion: Nonreligious Americans and Self-Presentation

Hubert Morken Best Book Award – Call for Nominations

We would like to invite nominations for APSA’s 2023 Hubert Morken Best Book 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 2022. The nomination should include a brief statement (250-750 words) summarizing the book’s contributions and why it is nominated for the award. This statement can be sent by email to the committee chair, Vineeta Yadav (vuy2@psu.edu).

As part of the nomination, publishers should send a hard copy of the nominated book to EACH member of the awards committee at the addresses below, making sure that the books arrive by the nomination deadline, March 17th, 2023.

Self-nominations are welcome. If you have any questions, please contact the committee chair, Vineeta Yadav (vuy2@psu.edu).

Committee Members’ Contact Information:

Dr. Vineeta Yadav (Committee Chair)
309 Pond Lab
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802

Dr. Jonathan Laurence
48 Old Colony Rd.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

Dr. John Green
422 Sandy Drive
Glenshaw, PA 15116