The PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING of RELIGION
The Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion builds on a longstanding conviction of the Divinity School that the best and most innovative scholarship in religion arises from sustained dialogue with the world beyond the academy. It contributes to this dialogue by offering scholarly perspectives on the religious questions facing the wider public, while encouraging faculty and students to situate their scholarly questions within a broader cultural frame of reference.
MARTY CENTER CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Typologies of Interfaith Education Symposium
January 11-21, 2021The Martin Marty Center is excited to host this symposium in collaboration with Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), Chicago. It will consist of an opening plenary, led jointly by David Nirenberg, Dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core, followed by four interactive panels on relevant themes related to interfaith education.
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Medical Practice in the Midst of Global Pandemic
An Enhancing Life Research LaboratoryThe Enhancing Life Research Laboratory, a pilot program partially funded by the Marty Center, will give 12 physicians from around the world skills and tools to navigate orientational distress.
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Marty Center Symposium on Religion and the 2020 Elections
This Marty Center symposium will address how religion shapes American politics--and vice-versa--in the midst of political polarization, economic crisis, and social upheaval.
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Pantheism, Creation, Emanation
Contemporary Reflections on NatureA conference canvassing the fraught position of nature in the Western tradition in an attempt to analyze it not as an enemy to be feared but as a welcome critical voice and a potential ally of both the divine and the human.
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Religions in the Americas
A lecture seresThe Marty Center's Religions in the Americas lecture series will bring leading scholars in the field to focus on critical topics and key debates, using a variety of methodological approaches
LEARN MORESEMINARS & FELLOWSHIPS
Seminar and fellowship programs are oriented towards the intersection of religion and public life, and encourage faculty and students to put their scholarly questions into a broader cultural frame.

Our annual yearlong Marty Center seminar puts together junior and senior scholars for a unique interdisciplinary experience.

The Brauer Seminar encourages interdisciplinary research and teaching, with a new topic (and instructors) annually.