SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Institute for Communication and Religion at Seton Hall University has announced its panel of experts for a one-day, regional conference to be held April 22. Called “Communication and Religion in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election,” this free conference will bring some of the foremost scholars in the fields of communication, religious studies and political science to Seton Hall to share their expertise with students, faculty and the general public.
In addition to promoting dialogue on the role of religion in today’s public sphere, these national experts will examine religion-based campaign messaging and associated media coverage, and provide historical context that can help Americans interpret the intersection between politics and faith.
“It is impossible to understand American political rhetoric and the impending presidential election without also understanding our socio-religious history. Drawing, in part, from harsh lessons of religious division and persecution in Europe, our founders achieved a polity embodying both shining values of freedom and equality and tragic hypocrisies like slavery and genocide,” said Jon Radwan, an associate professor and the institute’s director. “Seton Hall’s Institute for Communication and Religion is honored to host this conference and contribute to public dialogue on how America’s faith/power dynamic is unfolding in the 2020 presidential campaign. We hope to infuse political communication scholarship and civic discourse with a spirit of prudence, charity and social justice, because statecraft and soul-craft are two sides of the same page.”
The conference will be broadcast live by Seton Hall and video of key portions of the event will later be made available for those who cannot attend.
Featured speakers for the event will include: Ron Arnett, chair and professor of communication and rhetorical studies and The Patricia Doherty Yoder and Ronald Wolfe Endowed Chair in Communication Ethics at Duquesne University; Heidi Campbell, professor of communication and affiliate faculty in religious studies and director of the Network for New Media, Religion & Digital Culture Studies at Texas A&M University and 2018 Harron Family Endowed Chair in Communication at Villanova University; Peter Beinart, professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York, a contributor to The Atlantic, a senior columnist at The Forward, a CNN political commentator and a fellow at The Foundation for Middle East Peace; Jaroslav Franc, professor in the departments of systematic theology and pastoral and spiritual theology at Palacky University, Czech Republic, and creator of the educational radio program “Islam: A Sign of the Times.”
A number of Seton Hall professors will also take part as facilitators guiding in-depth discussion. In addition, the conference will host a student art show and research posters on the interdependence of communication, politics, and religion.
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