The seminar on church and state for young faculty will explore the interaction of religion and political life in the early American republic. Beginning with consideration of the American colonial and revolutionary eras, including the First Great Awakening and the theological contribution of Jonathan Edwards, the seminar will go on to take up the nations early life under the new Constitution with its First Amendment protection for religious freedom. As the Second Great Awakening swept over American Christian life in the period 1795 to 1810, how did various religious and political actors in the country come to consider or reconsider the relationship of church and state? Looking forward to the Jacksonian period, what political, legal, and social forces came to affect the further evolution of this relationship? Readings in the seminar will be primary sources in early American religious and political thought.

Participants:
The seminar is open to post-doctoral, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track scholars in the fields of political science and political theory, history, law, and religious studies.

Faculty:
Mark Noll, University of Notre Dame
Harry S. Stout, Yale Divinity School
Gerald R. McDermott, Roanoke College

Past Faculty:
Michael McConnell, Stanford Law School
Donald Drakeman, Princeton University

Select Readings:
TBD

Application Process:
Please send the following forms and documents via email to Patrick Hough:
1. Completed application form
2. Curriculum vitae or resume
3. Cover letter expressing the reasons for your interest in the seminar and overview of any relevant experience in the seminar topic.

The deadline for the submission of the complete application is March 30, 2012.

Registration Fee and Facilities
A $200 registration fee will be required of all accepted applicants. This fee covers room and board on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary for the duration of the seminar.