Religion and Global Politics across Disciplines and Publics: Summary
The Religion and Global Politics across Disciplines and Publics gathering at Notre Dame Rome marked the capstone of the inaugural Global Fellows program. The event brought together three cohorts: the Ansari Institute’s global fellows; their mentors, who are senior scholars at the University of Notre Dame; and participants of the Rome Summer Seminars on Religion and Global Politics. The summer seminarians—a new generation of graduate students researching the intersection of religion and global politics—were hosted by John Cabot University with substantive support from the Ansari Institute.
The first day of the symposium featured a keynote with scholar and author Erin K. Wilson, professor of politics and religion in the faculty of Religion, Culture, and Society at the University of Groningen and recipient of the 2026 Ansari Institute Book Prize. Wilson offered commentary on the emerging field of religion and global politics, and reflect on the ways in which diplomats, civil servants, policymakers, journalists, and civil society practitioners might understand and incorporate religious literacy into their respective roles.
The second day of the symposium included a full set of panels addressing themes relevant to the study of religion and global politics, including religion, post-colonialism, and new nations; religion, democracy, and state agendas; and religious networks, identity politics, and religio-political theory. Each session featured global fellow(s) who study one or more of these themes, their faculty mentors, and the chair of the session—a senior scholar who also served as a critical interlocutor with the panelists. The audience participated in the discussion following the panelists’ presentations.
The final day of the symposium was integrated into the European Academy of Religion’s Ninth Annual Conference with each session open to all conference participants. There were panels on new directions in the study of religion and global politics, religion and international order, interreligious engagement, and managing pluralism. The sessions featured recent Rome summer seminarians, current global fellows, and members of the Ansari Institute faculty including Interim Director Scott Appleby, Executive Director Mahan Mirza, and Senior Fellow Michael Driessen.
The symposium ended with an "Author Meets Critics" plenary held at the conference. Five scholars of religion and global politics discussed Religion and World Politics: Connecting Theory with Practice. The panelists included the author, Erin Wilson, as well as Peter Mandaville (Georgetown and George Mason Universities), Kristina Stoeckl (LUISS University), Gregorio Bettiza (University of Bologna), and Scott Appleby (Notre Dame). The panel was followed by a reception.
