Department of Religion
Ripon College
300 Seward Street
Ripon, WI 54971
(920) 748-8139

E-mail: SmithB@ripon.edu

Education

• A.B. in History and Classical Culture, Fordham University
• M.A. in Political Science, Columbia University
• M.Div. in Theology, Woodstock College
• S.T.M. in Sacred Theology and Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
• Ph.D. Political Science, Yale University

Awards and Honors

• May Bumby Severy Award for Teaching Excellence, Ripon College, 1997 and 2003
• First Place Award for Professional Books, The Catholic Press Association, (The Catholic Church and Democracy in Chili and Peru), 1998
• Summer Research Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1995
• Research Grant, U.S. Institute for Peace, 1990-91
• Senior Class Teaching Award, Ripon College, 1990 and 2005

Areas of Interest

• Comparative religions
• Comparative religious ethics
• Religion and politics in global perspective
• International charities
• Religion in Latin America

Recent Publications

• "Religion and Politics in Comparative Global Perspective" (forthcoming)
• Book review of Paul Freston, "Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America" (Cambridge University Press, 2001) in "Political Science Quarterly," Winter 2003
• "Religious Politics in Latin America, Pentacostal vs. Catholic", 1998
• "The Catholic Church and Democracy in Chili and Peru," 1997
• "More Than Altruism: The Politics of Private Foreign Aid," 1990
• "The Church and Politics in Chile: Challenges to Modern Catholicism," 1982

Current Courses Taught

• REL 221  Comparative World Religions
• REL 231  History of Christian Theology and Ethics
• REL 321  Ethics and International Affairs
• REL 322  Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspectives
• REL 451  Senior Thesis