The Center for Democratic Deliberation announces the launch of a new scholarly initiative: "Religion, Politics, and Democratic Deliberation." This project consists of a lecture series, led by Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Stephen H. Browne, and a volume edited by Dr. Browne.

The lecture series, titled "Religion and Public Life," features speakers from a wide range of backgrounds. The first speaker in the series is Hooman Majd, whose lecture "The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: Culture, Politics, Ethics, and the Making of Modern Iran" is scheduled for October 15.

This series will culminate in an edited volume tentatively entitled Rhetoric, Politics, and Religion: The Prospects for Democratic Deliberation in Twenty-First Century America.  This volume will include essays by representatives of the world’s three great monotheistic religions, as well as by academic specialists in the subject, and will reflect upon both the problems and possibilities of public discourse about religion and politics.