RELATED PROJECT
RELATED PROGRAM
EVENTS
May 17, 2013Markets, Justice, and the Law
April 25, 2013
Homosexuality in China: An Emergent Social and Religious Controversy
April 23, 2013
Faith Efforts Against Human Trafficking in Cambodia
April 22, 2013
Walking on Air: Alice McDermott and the Faith of the Novelist
AT THE CENTER
RELATED RESOURCES: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
December 4, 2011
Standing Seminar: Religion, Health, and Happiness
Are religious people happier and healthier than their non-religious neighbors or is association with religion deleterious to one's health and happiness? Though these questions have sparked debate among scientists and philosophers for centuries, serious inquiry into the complex associations between religion, health, and happiness date back only a few decades.
As part of its standing seminar series on the relationship between religion and the human experience, the Religious Freedom Project invited two pioneers in the field of the relationship between religion and health to debate these and other questions at this interdisciplinary seminar. Although the research has shown an association between the presence of religion in a person's life and an increase in the positive measures of health and happiness, important questions such as the causal mechanism of the relationship and the variance between religions remain to be fully understood.
As part of its standing seminar series on the relationship between religion and the human experience, the Religious Freedom Project invited two pioneers in the field of the relationship between religion and health to debate these and other questions at this interdisciplinary seminar. Although the research has shown an association between the presence of religion in a person's life and an increase in the positive measures of health and happiness, important questions such as the causal mechanism of the relationship and the variance between religions remain to be fully understood.
Featuring
Linda George
Linda George is Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University where she is also the Associate Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health and the Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development as well as a Core Faculty Member at Duke Divinity School’s Institute for Care at the End of Life. The author or editor of seven books, she is co-editor (with Robert Binstock) of the Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences and publishes regularly in journals on aging, psychiatry, and health. Her research focuses on social factors and depression, the effects of stress and coping, religion and health, and the effects of beliefs on health. Dr. George is past President of the Gerontological Society of America and former editor of the social sciences section of the Journal of Gerontology.
Jeff Levin
Jeff Levin is University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health and Director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He is also Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Levin has pioneered research in the field of religion, spirituality and health, focusing on the epidemiology of religion and religion’s impact on the physical and mental well being of older adults. He has published widely in these areas, authoring several books including God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection (John Wiley & Sons, 2001) and the forthcominig Religion and Population Health: Faith-Based Resources for Research, Intervention, and Policy (Baylor University Press). Dr. Levin’s research is internationally recognized and has appeared in various media outlets including The Washington Post, Time Magazine, USA Today, PBS and NPR.
Participants
Patrick Fagan
Patrick Fagan is Senior Fellow and Director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI) at the Family Research Council. His research examines the relationships between family, marriage, religion, community, and social problems. He has...
Thomas Farr
Full List of Publications
Thomas F. Farr is Director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and a Visiting Associate Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown’s Edmund A....
Thomas F. Farr is Director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and a Visiting Associate Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown’s Edmund A....
Scott Kim
Scott Kim is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and a co-director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM). His work focuses on research ethics policy, with special...
David Myers
David Myers is Professor of Psychology at Hope College and a scientific and general interest writer on psychological science. He has written on various topics including social psychology, happiness, sexual orientation, psychology and faith, and...
Crystal Park
Crystal Park is Professor of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, where she is also the Director of the Graduate Certificate Program on Health Psychology. Her research interests include stress, coping, and adaptation; the ways in which...
Christina Puchalski
Christina Puchalski is the founder and Executive Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health and Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences at The George Washington University School of Medicine. Through her work she has...
Timothy Shah
Timothy Samuel Shah is Associate Director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center For Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and Visiting Assistant Professor in the Government Department, Georgetown University. He is a political...