Saturday, April 19, 2025 |  9:30 AM – 6:00 PM PDT

Location | Albrecht Auditorium
Claremont Graduate University

RELIGION IN PUBLIC: BUSINESS, PHILANTHROPY, MEDIA

Conference Schedule

9:30   Welcome

Matthew Bowman, Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University
David Specht, Director of the Global Family Business Institute at Claremont Graduate University

9:45   Religion and Business

Where does “religion” end and “business” begin? Do we imagine “religion” and “business” as organizations? Sets of beliefs? Do different models for what “religion” and “business” might be shape how we think about how they interact?

Deonnie Moodie, Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Oklahoma; she studies how religious ideas and practices intersect with economics in South Asia

Nathan Oman, Rollins Professor of Law at the College of William and Mary; he studies contracts, religion, and law

Reid Steadman, CEO of Bountiful Financial, a financial firm which engages in faith-based investing

11:30   Lunch

1:00   Religion and Philanthropy

How do religious organizations and ideas define “philanthropy” in distinctive ways? How is philanthropy related to broader questions of religious identity and purpose?

Kate Rosenblatt, Assistant Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Emory University; she studies Jewish economic cooperatives and the Jewish Left

Heather Curtis, Professor of Religion and Director of the Center for the Humanities at Tufts University, where she studies American evangelical philanthropy

Tanise Chung Hoon, Managing Director of Philanthropies, the Advancement Organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for welfare, education, and culture

2:30   Break

3:00  Religion and Media

How do changing forms of media shape what we understand “religion” to be? How are contemporary religious organizations grappling with – or failing to grapple with – transformations in modern forms of media?

Benjamin Peters, Rogers Chair of Media Studies at the University of Tulsa; he studies technology and culture

Heidi Campbell, Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University; she researches religion and digital culture with an emphasis on Jewish, Muslim, and Christian media negotiations

Brooke Zaugg, Vice President of the Faith & Media Initiative

4:30   Break

5:00   Plenary Address

Warner Woodworth, Professor Emeritus in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University, a leading advocate of microcredit, and Founder of Help International

6:00   Conclusion

Matthew Bowman, Claremont Graduate University
David Specht, Claremont Graduate University