Instructor: David Elcott, Ph.D.

At a moment when liberal democracy is so deeply threatened and we search to understand how this can be occurring at this point in history, a new prize-winning analysis Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of Liberal Democracy by David Elcott comes to offer a cogent exploration of the ways religious identity fuels illiberal nationalist and populist democracy across the globe, from the United States to Israel, from India to Indonesia.

Elcott, a powerful analyst who has taught in Jewish communities across North America and interfaith settings around the world, allows us to better understand the revolts against a political, social and economic order that values democracy in a global and strikingly diverse world, while encouraging people of faith to promote foundational support for the institutions and values of the democratic enterprise from within their own religious traditions and to stand against the hostility and cruelty that historically have resulted when religious zealotry and state power combine.