SHU hosts free, virtual conference on communication, religion, the election

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — From Oct. 21 to 23, the Institute for Communication and Religion at Seton Hall University will hold a virtual conference, “Communication and Religion in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.” This free online 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. 

The event will be simulcast by Shemaroo, a media and content distribution company in India.

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, widespread protesting 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,” associate professor Jon Radwan, the institute’s director, said. “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 ICR was awarded a grant from the National Network Board of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts in support of the programming. 

To register for this conference, visit www.shu.edu/communication-religion/communication-religion-in-the-2020-election.cfm.

  Election Day, Seton Hall University