Paul Freston

Distinguished Senior Fellow
Director of Program for Studies of Religion in Latin America
Institute for Studies of Religion
Professor and CIGI Chair in Religion & Politics in Global Context
Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada

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Paul Freston is Professor and CIGI Chair in Religion and Politics in Global Context at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Freston joined Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) in the summer of 2008 as a Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director of the Program for Studies of Religion in Latin America. In this capacity, Dr. Freston is conducting new research on multiple fronts in Latin America and will be central to ISR's plans of increasing our presence as a leader in global research on religion and public life, particularly in the global south. Before coming to ISR, Freston taught Sociology at Calvin College, where he held the Byker Chair. Freston has been affiliated with the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil, where he has lived for much of the last 30 years, and is still a professor colaborador on their post-graduate program in sociology.

Born in England and educated at Cambridge University, Freston also has a Master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Liverpool and a Master's degree in Christian Studies from Regent College in Vancouver. He earned a Doctorate in Sociology at the University of Campinas in Brazil. His research specialties are in the Sociology of religion, politics and globalization.