Scholars Council
Honorary Co-Chairs
Patricia Draves
President, Graceland University
Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver
President, Union University
Members
Samuel Abrams
Professor of Politics
Sarah Lawrence College
Oluseyi Adegbola
Assistant Professor of Public Relations and Advertising
DePaul University College of Communication
Joel Allen
Professor of Religion and Philosophy
Dakota Wesleyan University
Aaron Ahuvia
University of Michigan-Dearborn
Author of The Things We Love: How Our Passions Connect Us and Make Us Who We Are
Ibrahim Anli
Rumi Forum (Washington, D.C.)
Jewish Islamic Dialogue Society
Christopher A. Bail
Duke University
Founder of the Duke Polarization Lab Author of Breaking the Social Media Prism
Hunter Baker
Union University
Author of The End of Secularism and The System Has a Soul
Delia Baldassarri
Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor of Sociology
New York University
Martha Bayles
Arts Sciences Honors Program
Boston College, Author of Through a Screen Darkly
Brien Benson
Schar School of Policy and Government
George Mason University
Roger Berkowitz
Professor of Politics, Philosophy, and Human Rights
Academic Director, Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities
Bard College
Editor of The Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition
Andrew Bibby
Utah Valley University
Co-editor of Rival Visions
Robert A. Blair
Brown University
Democratic Erosion Consortium
Author of Peacekeeping, Policing, and the Rule of Law After Civil War
Graham Bodie
Professor of Integrated Marketing Communication
Meek School of Journalism and New Media
University of Mississippi
Harry C. Boyte
Augsburg University Co-founder of the Institute for Public Life and Work
Author of Awakening Democracy Through Public Work
Charles C. Camosy
Associate Professor of Theological and Social Ethics
Fordham University
Founder and co-director of the Catholic Conversation Project
Author of Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People
Martín Carcasson
Professor of Communication Studies
Founder of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation
Colorado State University
John Carlson
Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict
Arizona State University
Co-editor of From Jeremiad to Jihad and Religion and the Death Penalty
John Channing Briggs
Professor of English
University of California, Riverside
Author of Lincoln’s Speeches Reconsidered
Andrew Jason Cohen
Professor of Philosophy
Founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Georgia State University
Author of Toleration and Freedom from Harm: Liberalism Reconceived and Toleration
Peter T. Coleman
Professor of Psychology and Education
Columbia University
Director, International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
Author of The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization
Paul Croce
Professor of History and Director of American Studies
Stetson University
Sorcha A. Brophy
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
Emre Celik
Executive Director, Peace Island Institute New York
Charles Sturt University (Australia)
President Emeritus, Rumi Forum
Emily Chamlee-Wright
President and CEO of the Institute for Humanist Studies
George Mason University
Author of Liberal Learning and the Art of Self-Governance and How We Came Back: Voices from Post-Katrina New Orleans
April Chatham-Carpenter
Professor of Applied Communication
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Amy Chua
Yale Law School
Author of Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations
Obie Clayton, Jr.
Clark Atlanta University
Co-editor of Black Fathers in Contemporary American Society
and An American Dilemma Revisited
Stephen Clements
Professor of Political Science
Dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Asbury University
David D. Corey
Professor of Political Science in the Honors Program
Baylor University
John Corvino
Wayne State University
Co-author of Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination
Daniel Darling
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Director, Land Center for Cultural Engagement
Author of Ministers of Reconciliation
Stewart Davenport
Pepperdine University
Richard F. Doner
Emeritus, Department of Political Science
Emory University
James N. Druckman
Department of Political Science
University of Rochester
Carolyn Dupont
Professor of History
Western Kentucky University
Todd Eberly
Professor of Political Science
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Justin Eckstein
Department of Communications
Pacific Lutheran University
Paul S. Edwards
Brigham Young University
Director of the Wheatley Institution
Katherine C. Epstein
Associate Professor of History
Rutgers University-Camden
Rachel Ferguson
Concordia University Chicago
Director of the Center for Free Enterprise
Eli J. Finkel
Northwestern University
Kellogg School of Management
Author of The All-Or-Nothing Marriage
Anthony Fowler
Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy
University of Chicago
Steven Frankel
Professor of Philosophy
Xavier University
Co-author of Civil Religion in Modern Political Philosophy
Robert Michael Franklin
Emory University Candler School of Theology
Author of Moral Leadership and Crisis in the Village
Former president of Morehouse College
Former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center
Robin Fretwell Wilson
Mildred Van Voorhis Chair in Law
University of Illinois College of Law
Director, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois System
Director, Tolerance Means Dialogue
Francis Fukuyama
Stanford University
Author of The End of History, Trust, and Identity
William Galston
Brookings Institution
Ezra K. Zilkha Chair and Senior Fellow
Judge Thomas B. Griffith (ret.)
Lecturer, Harvard Law School and Stanford University
Fellow, Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University
Shalyn Romney Garrett
Co-author of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How
We Can Do It Again
Francesco Gino
Harvard University Business School
Author of Rebel Talent
Jessica Gottlieb
Hobby School of Public Affairs
University of Houston
Haynes C. Goddard
Professor Emeritus of Economics
University of Cincinnati
Roderick S. Graham
Old Dominion University
Author of The Digital Practices of African-Americans
Jonathan Haidt
New York University Stern School of Business
Author of The Righteous Mind and co-author of The Coddling of the American
Mind
Hahrie Han
Johns Hopkins University
Director of the SNF Agora Institute
Author of How Organizations Develop Activists
Richard Harris
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Rutgers University
Alan Hawkins
Brigham Young University
Co-author of Should I Try to Work It Out?
Eliza Hawkins
Brigham Young University
Kirk Hawkins
Brigham Young University
Director of Team Populism
Charles Heckscher
Rutgers University
Author of Trust in a Complex World
Peter C. Hill
Biola University Rosemead School of Psychology
Author of Psychology of Religious Fundamentalism
Seth J. Hill
Professor of Political Science
University of California, San Diego
Author of Frustrated Majorities: How Issue Intensity Enables Smaller Groups Of Voters To Get What They Want (Forthcoming, 2022)
Lindsay Hoffman
Associate Professor of Communication
University of Delaware
Howard Husock
Senior Fellow, Domestic Policy Studies
American Enterprise Institute
Author of The Poor Side of Town and Who Killed Civil Society?
Ravi Iyer
Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist of Ranker
Co-Founder and Executive Director of Civil Politics
Hrishikesh Joshi
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Bowling Green State University
Author of Why It’s OK to Speak Your Mind
Seth Kaplan
Lecturer, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Author of Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development; Betrayed: Promoting Inclusive Development in Fragile States; and Human Rights in Thick and Thin Societies: Universality Without Uniformity
Samuel Kimbriel
Aspen Center for Philosophy & Society
Author of Friendship as Sacred Knowing
Samara Klar
University of Arizona
Co-author of Independent Politics
Robin Koerner
Academic Dean
John Locke Institute
Thomas C. Kohler
Concurrent Professor of Law and Philosophy
Boston College Law School
Author of Solidarity Forever: The Story and Significance of an Idea (forthcoming)
Robert B. Kozma
Emeritus Principal Scientist
SRI International
Author of What You Can Do to Make the World a Better Place (forthcoming)
Peter Kreko
Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences (Budapest, Hungary)
Director of the Political Capital Institute
Senior Fellow, Central for European Policy Analysis
Emily Kubin
Institute for Communication Psychology & Media Education
Department of Psychology
University of Koblenz-Landau (Germany)
Rick Langer
Professor, Talbot School of Theology
Co-director of The Winsome Conviction Project
Biola University
Yphtach Lelkes
Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication
Co-director, Polarization Research Lab
Director, Democracy and Information Group
University of Pennsylvania
Matthew Levendusky
University of Pennsylvania
Author of The Partisan Sort and (forthcoming) We Need to Talk: How Cross-Party
Dialogue Reduces Affective Polarization
Yuval Levin
American Enterprise Institute
Author of The Fractured Republic and A Time to Rebuild
Linda Malone-Colon
Dean of the School Liberal Arts and Education
Hampton University
Samantha McCann
Lecturer, School of International and Public Affairs
Columbia University
Chief Operating Officer at Bridging Divides Initiative
Jennifer McCoy
Georgia State University
Non-resident Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Co-editor of Polarizing Polities: A Global Threat to Democracy
Lex O. McMillan
President Emeritus of Albright College
Author of Golfing with Lewis and Clark
Lawrence Mead
New York University
Author of From Prophesy to Charity and Burdens of Freedom
Molly Brigid McGrath
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Director of the Honors Program
Assumption University
Julia Minson
Harvard University Kennedy School of Politics
The Washington Forum
Hassan Mneimneh
Middle East Institute
The Washington Forum
Christine Modey
Director, Michigan Community Scholars Program
University of Michigan
Matt Motyl
Lead Quantitative UX Researcher
Civic Integrity at Facebook
Co-founder and Research Director of Civil Politics
Ryan Muldoon
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Director of Undergraduate Studies
University of Buffalo
Author of Social Contract Theory for a Diverse World: Beyond Tolerance
Donald G. Nieman
Professor of History and Provost Emeritus
Binghamton University
Author of The Path to Paralysis: How Our Politics Became Nasty, Dysfunctional, and a Threat to the Republic
Richard E. Nisbett
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Research
Professor Emeritus, Institute for Social Research
University of Michigan
Liz Norell
Associate Professor, Chattanooga State Community College
Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, University of Mississippi (starting July 2023)
Amy Olberding
Presidential Professor of Philosophy
University of Oklahoma
Author of The Wrong of Rudeness
Nealin Parker
Executive Director, Common Ground USA
Non-Resident Fellow, Princeton University
Gary Peluso-Verdend
President Emeritus, Phillips Theological Seminary
Executive Director, Center for Religion in Public Life
Pete Peterson
Dean and Braun Family Dean’s Chair
Pepperdine University School of Public Policy
Davenport Institute for Public Engagement
Peter Pomerantsev
Arena, SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University
London School of Economics
Jonathan Rauch
Brookings Institution
Author of The Happiness Curve and The Constitution of Knowledge
Wilfred T. Reilly
Kentucky State University
Author of Taboo
Richard V. Reeves
Whitehead Chair and Senior Fellow in Economic Studies
Director, Future of the Middle Class Initiative
Brookings Institution
David C. Rine
Professor Emeritus of Computer Science
George Mason University
Alex Roberts
Ohio State University
John Rose
Civil Discourse Project, Kenan Institute for Ethics
Duke University
Author of Until Our Minds Rest in Thee: Open-Mindedness, Intellectual Diversity, and the Christian Life
Edmund N. Santurri
Professor of Religion and Philosophy
St. Olaf College
Director of the Institute for Freedom and Community
Author of Perplexity in the Moral Life
Lisa Schirch
Starmann Professor of the Practice of Peace Studies
Director, Peace Tech and Polarization Lab
University of Notre Dame
Editor of Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy: The Techtonic Shift
Timothy J. Shaffer
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse
Director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative
University of Delaware School of Public Policy and Administration
National Institute for Civil Discourse
Co-Editor of Creating Space for Democracy
Alexander Siegenfeld
MIT Center for Constructive Communication
Peter Skerry
Boston College
Author of Mexican-Americans and Counting on the Census?
Martina Smuclerova
Ambis University (Prague, Czech Republic),
Paris Institute of Political Studies / Sciences Po (Paris, France)
Nancy E. Snow
Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing
Professor of Philosophy
University of Oklahoma
Bill Stanczykiewicz
Director of The Fund Raising School
Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy
Dominik Stecula
Department of Political Science
Colorado State University
Co-author of We Need to Talk
Sarah Stitzlein
Professor of Education
Affiliate Professor of Philosophy
University of Cincinnati
Daniel Stone
Bowdoin College
Director of Media Trades
Author of Undue Hate: A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Hostile Polarization in
Politics and Beyond (forthcoming)
Chris Tausanovitch
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of California, Los Angeles
Matthew Taylor
Senior Scholar & Protestant Scholar
Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies
Baltimore, Maryland
Edward Tomlinson
Professor of Business and Economics
West Virginia University
Co-editor of Crime and Corruption in Organizations
Eric Torres
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Kevin Vallier
Bowling Green State University
Author of Must Politics Be War? and Trust in a Polarized Age
Andrew T. Walker
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Author of Liberty for All
Barbara F. Walter
Rohr Professor of International Relations
University of California, San Diego
Author of How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them
David Welch
Shepherd University
Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communication
William (Beau) Weston
Centre College
Author of Between Bohemia and Suburbia and Leading from the Center
Michael Whitenton
Lecturer, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core | Honors College
Director, Bridgebuilding Fellows, Baylor University
W. Bradford Wilcox
University of Virginia
Professor and Director of the National Marriage Project
Co-author of Soul Mates and editor of Unequal Family Lives
Robb Willer
Stanford University
Director of the Polarization and Social Change Lab
Marlene Wind
University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
Centre for European Politics
Author of The Tribalization of Europe
Ajume H. Wingo
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Associate Director of the Center for Values and Social Policy
University of Colorado Boulder
Author of Veil Politics in Liberal Democratic States
Eva Witesman
Professor in the Marriott School of Business
Academic Director of the Melvin J. Ballard Center for Social Impact
Brigham Young University
Peter Wood
President
National Association of Scholars
Gregory Wurm
Department of Sociology
University of Notre Dame
Dissertation topic: Depolarization Nation: Why and How Americans Bridge Political Differences
George Yancey
Professor of the Social Sciences
Department of Sociology
Baylor University
Author of Compromising Scholarship: Religious and Political Bias in American Higher Education
Hajar Yazdiha
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Faculty Affiliate, Equity Research Institute
University of Southern California
Jonathan Zimmerman
Professor of History of Education
University of Pennsylvania
Author of Free Speech, and Why You Should Give a Damn
