NEW YORK—Former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), who served on the 9/11 Commission, will headline a high-profile panel of journalists, authors and academics offering post-election analysis of “Religion and the Future of Liberal Politics” at the new Fordham Center on Religion and Culture on Thursday, Nov. 11, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the 12th-floor lounge of the Lowenstein Building on the Lincoln Center campus.
Kerrey, who served in the Senate from 1989 to 2000, is president of New School University in Manhattan. Also serving on the panel are Mary Jo Bane, Ph.D., a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; Mark Sargent, J.D., dean of Villanova Law School; and James Kelly, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Fordham University. E.J. Dionne, a syndicated columnist and author of Stand Up Fight Back (Simon and Schuster, 2004) and Why Americans Hate Politics (Touchstone, 1992), will moderate the discussion.
DATE: THURSDAY, NOV. 11
TIME: 3 TO 5 P.M.
PLACE: 12TH-FLOOR LOUNGE, LOWENSTEIN BUILDING
113 W. 60TH ST., NEW YORK , NY
“Whatever the results on November 2, the panelists will launch a fresh discussion of the place of religion in the liberal-progressive tradition,” said Peter Steinfels, co-director of the new Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. “The panel’s aim will not be partisan strategizing but understanding obvious fault lines in American religious and political culture.”
The panel’s analysis will explore the ramifications of a Republican or Democratic victory on Nov. 2. Throughout the campaign, Republicans and conservatives made energetic appeals to cement an alliance with religiously active voters. Meanwhile, other such voters identified themselves strongly with liberal politics either because of or despite their religious convictions. A Democratic defeat will inevitably provoke debate among Democrats, liberals and progressives about their approaches to religion in public life. A Democratic victory, on the other hand, will raise questions about how a new administration will address concerns of religiously motivated voters.
The Fordham Center on Religion and Culture seeks to explore questions arising at the intersection of religious faith and contemporary culture. At a time when the influence of religion in U.S. public life is both recognized and contested, the center will foster conversations about the issues today’s culture raises for religious belief and institutions, and the challenges posed by religion to the culture.
Strategically located at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus, the center will draw on New York City’s leading role in intellectual and literary life, media, the visual and performing arts, and diplomatic and humanitarian activities, as well as on the city’s cultural and religious diversity. The center’s co-directors are Peter Steinfels, author and former New York Times religion correspondent, and Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, journalist-in-residence at Fordham University and former editor of Commonweal magazine.
