Religious Attendance Relates to Generosity Worldwide: Religious and the secular more charitable if they attend services. Gallup data collected worldwide and across all the major world religions reveal that religious attendance is associated with more generous behavior, even for those unaffiliated with a particular religion. Study written by ISR scholars, Buster G. Smith and Rodney Stark. [For complete article go to Gallup World News...]
Dr. Jeff Levin has accepted a distinguished chair at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, where he will serve as University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health as well as Director of ISR’s Program on Religion and Population Health. Levin will also serve as Professor of Medical Humanities at Baylor. [Read More...]
Dr. Philip Jenkins, one of the world's leading religion scholars, has agreed to be a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion and to co-direct ISR's Program on Historical Studies of Religion. Jenkins also will offer seminars in Baylor's Department of History. He will split his time between Baylor and Pennsylvania State University where he is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities. [Read More...]
Dr. J. Gordon Melton, the leading authority on American religious bodies, has agreed to be a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR). The author of more than 40 reference and scholarly books, Melton is famous for his Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions first published in 1979 and now in its 8th edition (2009) [Read More...]
Dr. Amy L. Sherman, one of the country's leading scholars on the role of faith-based organizations in society, has agreed to be a Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion. Sherman is currently the Director of the Center on Faith in Communities at the Sagamore Institute. She previously held a similar post at the Hudson Institute, a public policy think tank, and has been a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Sherman plays key leadership roles in the national Faith and Service Technical Education Network (FASTEN), where she seeks to uncover what's working for faith-based groups at the grassroots level and communicates lessons learned to policymakers and practitioners. [Read More...]
For twenty-five years, the Association of Christian Economists has encouraged Christian scholars to explore and communicate the relationship between their faith and the discipline of economics and to promote interaction and communication among Christian economists. This anniversary conference will celebrate and continue that tradition.[Read More...]
Conference. The leading religion research conference series for policymakers, journalist, and researchers. Wednesday, December 3, 2008. The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. This conference is sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and Child Trends[Read More...]
On September 18th, Baylor's ISR released the follow-up to their groundbreaking 2005 survey, released in 2006, that painted a fascinating portrait of American religious life in the 21st century.
The survey - which was conducted by the venerated Gallup Organization - contained the most extensive battery of religion-related items ever administered to a national, random sample of U.S. citizens. Reporters from coast to coast were among the first to appreciate the depth and breadth of this landmark study on American religious attitudes and their impact on religious practices, politics and life in general.
Research findings were made public at a conference in Washington, DC this May and were released in a report called For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture. The report addresses the linked problems of overindebtedness, lack of savings, and growing inequality in the United States.A multiyear initiative of the Institute for American Values, under the leadership of David Blankenhorn, this John Templeton Foundation grant supports interdisciplinary research and public education to examine the history of thrift as an American value. It also aims to bring together leaders from across the political spectrum in a national conversation on thrift. Byron Johnson, Co-Director of ISR is among the distinguished scholars and leaders from across the political spectrum, who jointly authored, For A New Thrift. This publication powerfully addresses the linked problems of overindebtedness, lack of savings, and growing inequality in the United States. [Read More...]
Jeff Levin, will present the opening plenary on Thursday, November 19, 2009/Kislev 5770
Presented by UJA-Federation of New York’s Caring Commission and Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, this full-day conference will be a dynamic exploration of meaning, purpose, and later life. To learn more about conference [Read More...]
"Religious Practice in America: What the Research Says" is an annual conference series dedicated to sharing high-quality social science data and analysis addressing these questions and to exploring next steps for research that will inform American public discussion, hosted by The Heritage Foundation, with research partners the Baylor Institute for the Studies of Religion, and Child Trends.The 2009 conference "Religious Practice and The Family: What the Research Says" will be held October 29th at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. [Read More...]
Former Director of U.S. Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Joins Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion
Jay F. Hein, an internationally recognized public policy scholar, has accepted the position of Distinguished Senior Fellow and director of the Program for Faith and Service at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR). In this capacity, Hein will lead ISR's effort in promoting cutting-edge approaches to social problems through faith-based organizations. [Read More...]
Baylor ISR Study Cites Youth Advisor Program As Likely Cause of Decreased Violence and Suspension
Byron Johnson has spent years studying crime and delinquency, and when he heard about the program South Division is using he was intrigued. So the Baylor University sociology professor took a closer look at Violence Free Zone. Johnson says as violence at South Division decreased by 38 percent, suspension rates plummeted too. There's even some evidence that grade point averages improved slightly. For more information about the study release, please browse the media links below:
'Faith, Works And Research' Focus of Baylor ISR Conference
Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) recently hosted a national conference on "Faith and Works: A Call for Evidence of Action" to explore the connection between faith-based efforts and rigorous research. The two-day conference, held October 27-28, 2008 in San Antonio brought together some of the country's leading scholars, intermediary organizations and faith-based groups in an effort to begin an important dialogue about how these groups might more intentionally work together to produce more effective outcomes. [Read More...]
Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief
Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome
Uneasy Allies?: Evangelical and Jewish Relations
American Christians and Islam: Evangelical Culture and Muslims from the Colonial Period to the Age of Terrorism 
The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America
Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America (Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in the Global South)
God's Rivals: Why God Allows Different Religions - Insights from the Bible and the Early Church?
The Lost History of Christianity
Good Intentions: Nine Hot-Button Issues Viewed Through the Eyes of Faith
The Transformation of Yiguan Dao in Taiwan: Adapting to a Changing Religious Ecomony
The Plot to Kill God: Findings from the Soviet Experiment in Secularization
The Baker Pocket Guide to World Religions
Faith Makes Us Live: Surviving and Thriving in the Haitian Diaspora
