A 🥳HUGE CONGRATULATIONS🥳 to Boniuk Institute grad scholar Akpan Ubong-Abasi, who just rocked his comp exam at Rice University's Department of Religion - Let the dissertation-phase begin! Congrats Akpan!! 👏👏👏👏👏

Have you listened yet? Don't miss our conversation with Curtis Chang , author, consultant, professor, and former pastor about the dangers of partisan idolatry and why he believes that Christians should prioritize faith over political identity. Listen to the #ReligionUnmuted

🎉🎉🎉We are so pleased to celebrate three of our amazing Boniuk Institute undergraduate scholars--ad!t!, Adrienne Bradley, and Kennedi Macklin--who graduated this weekend from Rice University! You all have made an enormous contribution to the work of the Institute,

The deadline is approaching to register for the Boniuk Institute's religious literacy-themed professional development series "Global Religion & Public Life." Secondary educators and non-teaching professionals can earn 7 CPE credits while learning about various religious

Boniuk Institute was pleased to host members of the @AVDF board at Rice University to highlight “Revitalizing Interfaith Leadership in Houston and Beyond,” current BI research generously funded by AFDF to increase the capacity of religious leaders and organizations to work

Religion and Public Life Center hosted a special Religious and Civic Leader Gathering with special guests from the @AVDF. @InterfaithMinistries’s Jodi Bernstein and Ft Bend County Judge Stuti Patel joined BI's @KerbyGoff to discuss the 🌟opportunities🌟 of interfaith work in Houston. “[in Houston,]

So happy to celebrate Rachel C Schneider! We know that she will take the spirit of the Religion and Public Life Center with her to Tennessee and do great things there to continue promoting common ground for the common good.

Is your job a calling? Boniuk Institute's Elaine Howard Ecklund + Wheaton College (MA)'s Denise Daniels discuss their new book "Working for Better" on the @ThinkingChristian podcast with James Spencer. Listen here! omny.fm/shows/thinking…

A new article by Boniuk Institute's Josiah Taru and Elaine Howard Ecklund finds that religious AND non-religious people often blend science + religion at life's end. Peaceful passing means pain managed by medicine, fear eased by faith or spirituality. 👉READ MORE:

In this quick video, Josiah Taru discusses his newest article, "Science and Religion in the Context of a Good Death," which finds that people creatively blend scientific imagination with spiritual meaning when contemplating life's end. 👉 Watch it below! Read the full

👋Introducing Todd Ferguson, sociologist of religion, former pastor, & new director of Religion and Public Life Center. Get to know him in his own words in the video below! RiceSociology Rice Social Sciences Rice University Boniuk Institute

New Religion and Public Life Center director Todd Ferguson is excited about the lineup for our fall Religious & Civic Leader Gatherings. Find out who's coming to Rice University! The University of Texas at Arlington

So happy to be back with our Boniuk Institute friends! Today was our first Scholars Mtg of the fall semester, and we are excited to welcome both new faces and old friends as we explore research on religion from different angles/ disciplines/ methods! #ReligionAndPublicLife

RPLC director Todd Ferguson introduces our first event of the year - our signature Religious & Civic Leader Gatherings - and guest scholar Jason Shelton.

In this week’s Scholars Meeting, Todd Ferguson presented his forthcoming Socius article: “Religion and Racial Bias in AI Large Language Models.” The study asks: Do LLMs replicate religious bias the way they replicate race, gender & sexuality bias? #BiasInAI #AIethics

Last night Religion and Public Life Center kicked off its Fall 2025 Religious & Civic Leader Gathering at tsu. Jason E Shelton joined Todd Ferguson for a timely convo on The Contemporary Black Church—and how shifting demographics & faith identities shape U.S. public life.

❓Congregations as cultural toolkits❓ Yes. Providence College sociologist Brandon Martinez revealed how church contexts frame how we understand racial inequality.

Just hosted Boniuk Institute postdoc Josiah Taru to present his research on how African Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe frames faith-driven entrepreneurship as a religious duty amid ongoing economic crisis.

How do Gulf nations manage religious diversity? Rev. Justin Meyers of Oman’s Al Amana Centre explained why Oman’s integrated pluralism—rooted in culture, civility, and restraint—offers a powerful model for coexistence beyond “branded tolerance.”

At this week’s BI-RPLC Scholars Mtg, kerby goff shared data on how Americans define antisemitism & Islamophobia. Findings show more consensus on Islamophobia and deep divides on speech around what constitutes antisemitism. #ReligionAndPublicLife #BoniukInstitute