Paul Freston

Paul Freston is CIGI chair in religion and politics in global context at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and professor in the Department of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University. Freston is also Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director of the Program for Studies of Religion in Latin America at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion. He previously was the Byker Chair and Professor of Sociology at Calvin College from 2003-08 and remains associated with the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil, where he taught from 1998-2003. He is the author of nine books, including Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America (2008, as editor); he is co-editor of the forthcoming Cambridge History of Religions in Latin America. Freston earned his BA from Cambridge, MA from the University of Liverpool, Master of Christian Studies from Regent College (Vancouver), and PhD from the University of Campinas, Brazil.