2025 J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies Lecture: “Retelling National Narratives and Recovering Shared Values: Historic Sources of Hope as America's 250th Anniversary Approaches,” featuring Thomas A. Tweed

Wednesday, Sept 10th, at 3:30 in the Treasure Room of the Armstrong Barrett Library. Book signing and reception to follow the lecture from 4:30-5:30.

Thomas A. Tweed is the Harold and Martha Welch Professor of American Studies and Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame and former president of the American Academy of Religion. At Notre Dame, he has chaired the American Studies Department and been affiliated with Latino Studies, Peace Studies, and the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion. Tweed previously taught at UT Austin, University of Miami, and UNC Chapel Hill, where he served as Chair of Religious Studies, Zachary Smith Distinguished Professor, and Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences. Tweed is an historian of religion whose research has focused on America and the world, particularly the ways that the global flows of migrants and religions have shaped modern social, cultural, and political life. His publications, which include eight books and a six-volume series of historical documents, have garnered numerous awards. Both Our Lady of the Exile: Diasporic Religion at a Cuban Catholic Shrine in Miami and America's Church: The National Shrine and Catholic Presence in the Nation's Capital secured the American Academy of Religion's prestigious Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion (historical area). He also wrote The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844–1912, Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion, andReligion: A Very Short Introduction as well as edited Retelling U.S. Religious History and co-edited Asian Religions in America (Choice Outstanding Academic Title). Tweed’s lecture is based on his latest book Religion in the Lands That Became America: A New History, published by Yale University Press in 2025. 

Links: 

https://americanstudies.nd.edu/faculty/thomas-tweed/

https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300221480/religion-in-the-lands-that-became-america/