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Philip Barker, Austin College associate professor of political science, will discuss “Religion and Nationalism in the Modern World” on Wednesday, April 25, at 4;30 p.m. in Caruth Administration Building, Room 201. The presentation is one of three faculty research and pedagogy lectures sponsored this spring by the Robert and Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching. The presentation is free and open to the public.
The topic comes from Barker’s 2009 book, Religious Nationalism in Modern Europe: If God be for Us. Included in the Routledge Studies in Nationalism and Ethnicity series, the book examines the enduring nature of religious nationalism in modern Europe. Through in-depth case studies in Ireland, England, Poland, and Greece, Barker illustrates that religious frontiers, or geographic lines of division between different and unique religions, are central to the formation of religiously-based national identities.
Barker said that as states develop economically and politically, religion typically plays a lesser role in both individual lives and national identity. However, at religious frontiers, religion becomes useful for differentiating and mobilizing groups of people. “This is particularly true when the religious frontier also represents a threat or conflict,” he said.
“Although religion may not be the root of conflict in these instances, the conflict takes on religious tones because of its ability to unite an otherwise diverse population. Religion takes precedence over language, culture, or other national building-blocks because the ‘other’ can best be distinguished in religious terms.”
The Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching advances the mission of Austin College by encouraging the exploration of intellectual frontiers and by fostering intellectual dialogue within and across academic disciplines. The Center supports faculty initiatives that explore questions fundamental to the vitality of the liberal arts tradition at Austin College. The center also facilitates colloquia exploring questions vital to the liberal arts as well as interdisciplinary reading groups; faculty participation in regional, national, and international liberal arts conferences; and informal gatherings devoted to intellectual inquiry and exchange.
The director of the Johnson Center is Bernice Melvin, professor of French and a member of the Austin College faculty since 1980. Committee members include Lance Barton, associate professor of biology; Stephanie Gould, assistant professor of chemistry; Todd Penner, associate professor of religious studies; and Frank Rohmer, associate professor of political science.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives.
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