Democracy Conference Schedule: Full Schedule

Welcome, Democracy Scholars! We are delighted to invite you to American Independence and Identity at 250: Examining Democracy in the United States and Globally. This conference will be hosted at Gordon College on Thursday, June 11-Saturday, June 13, with events in Ken Olsen Science Center, Chase Hall, and Lane Student Center. Join for an optional tour of revolutionary sites in Boston, MA on Sunday, June 14.

Check out the schedule below and get excited for a phenomenal lineup of panel discussions, keynote addresses, and more!

7:00pm EDT

Plenary Panel | "Possibilities for Covenantal Pluralism in the West"

Thursday June 11, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT

Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

This panel is a launch event for a special issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs titled “Possibilities for Covenantal Pluralism in the West.” Panelists will examine the contemporary legal, political, and cultural challenges of deep diversity in three country cases: the U.S., England, and Canada. Complimentary copies of the special issue will be available to conference attendees.
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Dennis Hoover (The Review of Faith and International Affairs)
Judd Birdsall (Georgetown University)
Robert Joustra (Calvin University)
Laura Olson (Texas Christian University)

Speakers

Dennis Hoover

Editor in Chief, The Review of Faith and International Affairs

Editor in Chief, The Review of Faith & International Affairs (RFIA). Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Engagement (IGE). Senior Fellow, Love Your Neighbor Community (LYNC). Co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement.... Read More →

Judd Birdsall

Asst Professor of the Practice, Dept of Theology and Religious Studies, Georgetown University

Asst Professor of the Practice, Dept of Theology and Religious Studies, Georgetown University. Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Senior Editor, RFIA. Formerly at US State Dept and U.S. Institute of Peace.

Robert Joustra

Professor of Politics and Spoelhof Chair, Calvin University

Professor of Politics and Spoelhof Chair at Calvin University. Author, Christ and Covenant in Global Politics: A Christian Introduction to International Relations, Co-Editor, Power Politics and Moral Order: Three Generations of Christian Realism. Senior Editor, RFIA.

Laura Olson

Herman Brown Chair of Political Science, Texas Christian University

Herman Brown Chair of Political Science at Texas Christian University. Two-time U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Italy. Former editor-in-chief, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Author, Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices.
_______________... Read More →

Thursday June 11, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT
Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

8:15pm EDT

Plenary Reception

Thursday June 11, 2026 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT

Loggia (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Thursday June 11, 2026 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT
Loggia (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

11:00am EDT

Plenary Address (Open to Public) | "Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing"

Friday June 12, 2026 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT

Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Allen Hertzke (University of Oklahoma)
“Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing”

New global research powerfully links religious freedom to democracy, human rights, economic flourishing, empowerment of women, uplift for the poor, and peace. A key finding of this research suggests that these healthy outcomes are undermined when religion is privileged by state power, not just when it is repressed. This “curse of privilege” offers cautionary lessons for Christians participating in American democracy in the 21st Century, with profound implications for the fate of global democracy.

Respondent: Judd Birdsall (Georgetown University)

Speakers

Allen Hertzke

Professor emeritus, Political Science, University of Oklahoma

Author, Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing, Freeing God’s Children, and The Future of Religious Freedom; and ten-year member, Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican.

Judd Birdsall

Asst Professor of the Practice, Dept of Theology and Religious Studies, Georgetown University

Friday June 12, 2026 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT
Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

7:00pm EDT

Plenary Address (Open to Public) | "Freedom in a Changing Global Landscape"

Friday June 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT

Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Tal Howard (Lilly Foundation)
Conference Sponsor Welcome

Nicole Bibbins Sedaca (Bush Institute)
“Freedom in a Changing Global Landscape”

Global freedom has been in recession for two decades. Scholars and policymakers are asking whether this recession matters, and if so, what reverses this trend. Concurrently, the liberal world order, which was built on democratic norms, is changing rapidly, leaving open the question what will follow. This presentation will focus on the drivers of this recession, implications for the global community, and how to think about democratic norms within the context of the changing global order.
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Respondent: Ruth Melkonian-Hoover (Gordon College)

Speakers

Nicole Bibbins Sedaca

Kelly and David Pfeil Fellow, George W. Bush Presidential Center

Kelly and David Pfeil Fellow, George W. Bush Presidential Center. Formerly Interim President, Freedom House; Professor of Int’l Affairs, Georgetown U; and Senior Director, Democracy Bureau, US State Dept

Ruth Melkonian-Hoover

Professor and Director, Political Science and International Affairs, Gordon College

Co-author, Evangelicals and Immigration: Fault Lines Among the Faithful. Published in Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Latin American Perspectives. Board member, the Center for Public Justice and Neighborly Faith.... Read More →

Tal Howard

Duesenberg Chair in Ethics; Professor of Humanities and History, Valparaiso University

Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard is the Duesenberg chair in ethics and professor of humanities and history at Valparaiso University.

Friday June 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT
Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

8:15pm EDT

Plenary Reception

Friday June 12, 2026 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT

Loggia (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Friday June 12, 2026 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT
Loggia (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

11:00am EDT

Plenary Panel (Open to Public) | "Forming Christians for Public Life: Practices of Formation in a Time of Polarization"

Saturday June 13, 2026 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT

Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

This panel explores the importance of Christian formation in a time of anxiety about democracy, deep polarization, and institutional distrust. The conversation will feature Stephanie Summers of the Center for Public Justice, Michael Wear of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, and Susan Gates of Faith and Law reflecting on the practices, virtues, and communities needed to sustain faithful public leadership today. Panelists will discuss the formative challenges facing Christians in public life and the kinds of habits, relationships, and institutional support that help cultivate leaders capable of principled, constructive civic engagement across difference.
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Stephanie Summers (Center for Public Justice)
Michael Wear (Center for Christianity and Public Life)
Susan Gates (Faith and Law)

Speakers

Stephanie Summers

CEO, Center for Public Justice

CEO, Center for Public Justice. Co-author with Michael Gerson and Katie Thompson, Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice. Recipient, Duke Divinity Reflective Leadership Award. Former Vice President, Coalition for Christian Outreach... Read More →

Michael Wear

CEO, Center for Christianity and Public Life

CEO, Center for Christianity and Public Life. Former Deputy Director, President Obama’s White House Office for Faith-Based Initiatives. Author, The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, and Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama W... Read More →

Susan Gates

Executive Director, Faith and Law

Executive Director, Faith and Law. Former budget examiner, Office of Management and Budget. Former VP of public policy, Freddie Mac. Author, Days of Slaughter: Inside the Fall of Freddie Mac and Why It Could Happen Again. Adjunct Professor, Virginia Tech. Small business owner... Read More →

Saturday June 13, 2026 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT
Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

7:00pm EDT

Plenary Address (Open to Public) | "The Founders and the Future of American Democracy"

Saturday June 13, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT

Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Tracy McKenzie (Wheaton College)
"The Founders and the Future of American Democracy”

C. S. Lewis once observed that there are only two main reasons to believe in democracy. One is because you have confidence in human nature. The other is because you don’t. Listening carefully to the Framers of the Constitution and drawing substantively from Christian theology, I suggest that Americans have long embraced democracy for the wrong reason, and that this false foundation contributes significantly to the polarization and dysfunction of U.S. democracy today.
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Response: Michael Hammond (Gordon College)

Speakers

Tracy McKenzie

Arthur Holmes Chair of Faith and Learning & Professor of History, Wheaton College

Arthur Holmes Chair of Faith and Learning & Professor of History, Wheaton College. Author, We the Fallen People: The Founders and the Future of American Democracy, and former Chair of Am History, U of Washington

Michael Hammond

President, Gordon College

President of Gordon College; former Provost and Executive VP, and former history professor, Taylor University; widely published scholar in American Christianity, including the evangelical movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the intersection of race and religion in 20th century... Read More →

Saturday June 13, 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT
Chairs' Room (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

8:15pm EDT

Plenary Reception

Saturday June 13, 2026 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT

Loggia (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Saturday June 13, 2026 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT
Loggia (Ken Olsen Science Center)

Plenary Events

7:00pm EDT

8:15pm EDT

11:00am EDT

7:00pm EDT

8:15pm EDT

11:00am EDT

7:00pm EDT

8:15pm EDT

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