Center for the Study of Law and Religion (Emory)

Center for the Study of Law and Religion (Emory)
Name	Center for the Study of Law and Religion
Formation	1990s
Type	Research center
Location	Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Leader title	Director
Affiliations	Emory University

Center for the Study of Law and Religion (Emory) is an academic research center based at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, devoted to interdisciplinary analysis linking law and religion. The center connects faculty, scholars, and students across theological, legal, historical, and social domains, drawing on networks that include prominent figures and institutions from across the United States and internationally.

History

The center emerged in the late 20th century amid debates involving scholars associated with Emory University, Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Stanford University, Duke University, Georgetown University, University of Virginia, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Brown University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, King's College London, London School of Economics, European University Institute, Australian National University, National University of Singapore, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Seoul National University, and University of São Paulo about the intersections of First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Canon law, Sharia, Jewish law, and comparative legal traditions. Early leadership included scholars who engaged with topics covered by works like The Federalist Papers, Magna Carta, Code of Hammurabi, Corpus Juris Civilis, and debates paralleling decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., and Employment Division v. Smith.

Mission and Objectives

The center articulates objectives that resonate with institutions like United Nations, European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, International Criminal Court, World Bank, Council of Europe, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Its mission emphasizes rigorous scholarship on questions tied to documents and traditions such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, United Nations Charter, Geneva Conventions, and landmark texts like Summa Theologica and Talmud. The center aims to influence public deliberation involving stakeholders including scholars from American Bar Association, Association of American Law Schools, American Academy of Religion, American Political Science Association, Society for Legal and Political Philosophy, and faith communities such as Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches, Islamic Society of North America, Chabad, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism institutions.

Programs and Initiatives

Programs include interdisciplinary seminars and fellowships modeled on initiatives at Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Kennedy School, Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, Princeton Society of Fellows, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Smithsonian Institution, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Council on Foreign Relations, and The Aspen Institute. Initiatives address comparative law topics linked to cases and statutes such as Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Affordable Care Act, and litigation examples involving Supreme Court of the United States decisions and international adjudication at the International Court of Justice. The center runs fellowship tracks that involve collaborations with centers at Vanderbilt University, University of Notre Dame, Wake Forest University School of Law, Emory University School of Law, Candler School of Theology, Yeshiva University, Hebrew College, and think tanks like The Heritage Foundation and Center for American Progress.

Research and Publications

Research themes span study of authorities and texts such as Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagavad Gita, Book of Mormon, Confucian Analects, Nicomachean Ethics, and legal instruments including Treaty of Westphalia and Napoleonic Code. Publications appear alongside journals and presses like Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, University of Chicago Press, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, Stanford Law Review, Law and Society Review, Journal of Law and Religion, American Journal of Jurisprudence, and International Journal of Constitutional Law. Scholars associated with the center publish comparative studies referencing figures and texts such as John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Alasdair MacIntyre, G. W. F. Hegel, Thomas Aquinas, Augustine of Hippo, Maimonides, Ibn Sina, Averroes, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and contemporary jurists.

Education and Student Engagement

The center offers graduate and postgraduate opportunities interacting with programs at Emory University School of Law, Candler School of Theology, Rollins School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Goizueta Business School, and interdisciplinary units like Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Student engagement mirrors models at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center through clinics, externships, journal editing for publications akin to Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal, and moot court projects referencing competitions such as Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition. The center mentors students working on theses, dissertations, and public scholarship related to figures like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Louis Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, and contemporary legal scholars.

Conferences and Events

Conferences convene participants comparable to attendees of World Economic Forum, Pew Research Center symposia, Carnegie Council forums, American Academy of Religion meetings, Association of American Law Schools annual meetings, and international gatherings such as The Hague Conference on Private International Law and United Nations Human Rights Council sessions. Events often focus on case studies referencing Brown v. Board of Education, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Obergefell v. Hodges, and international developments in transitional justice and post-conflict reconstruction.

Affiliations and Partnerships

The center maintains partnerships with academic units and institutions including Emory University, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, Vatican, American Jewish Committee, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, European University Institute, Institute for Advanced Study, Bellagio Center, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and regional networks across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania.

Category:Emory University