Pruit Symposium Focuses On Role Of Christian Economist
Leading Christian scholars from some of the country's top universities and economic institutes will address the challenges and opportunities facing Christian economists during "Christianity and Economics: Integrating Faith and Learning in Economic Scholarship" Nov. 7-9 at Baylor University.
Jointly sponsored by Baylor's Pruit Memorial Endowment and the Lilly Fellows Program in the Humanities and Arts, the event will bring together the annual Pruit Memorial Symposium and the Lilly National Research Conference. Baylor's department of economics and Institute for Faith and Learning have served as conference organizers.
Conference presenters will address the challenges and opportunities facing Christian economists through a broad range of denominational perspectives and philosophies of political economy. All plenary sessions will be held in room 510 on the fifth floor of the Cashion Academic Center with the exception of the 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, session. That event, featuring Boston University economics professor Glenn C. Loury, author of The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, will be held in the Powell Chapel at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Concurrent sessions will be held in the Hankamer School of Business.
Plenary session topics include "The Economic Ethics of Jesus," "Understanding Markets as Both an Economist and a Christian" and "The Theological Meaning of Economics." Concurrent sessions will feature panel discussions on various topics and book presentations by several authors, including Jennifer Roback Morse, author of Love and Economics: Why the Laissez-Faire Family Doesn't Work; Michael L. Budde, co-author of Christianity Incorporated: How Big Business Is Buying the Church; and A.J. (Chip) Conyers, author of The Long Truce: How Toleration Made the World Safe for Power and Profit.
Other presenters include:
- George M. Marsden, The Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, who will deliver the keynote address on "Faith-Informed Scholarship: Some First Principles" at 8 p.m. Thursday in Cashion room 510;
- Rebecca M. Blank, dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and The Henry Carter Adams Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, University of Michigan;
- Judith Dean, international economist, U. S. International Trade Commission;
- David Gushee, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy and Senior Fellow at the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Christian Leadership, Union University;
- Robert H. Nelson, University of Maryland School of Public Affairs; and
- Michael Novak, The George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute.
"Most scholarship devoted to the integration of Christian values and economics has been out of the mainstream, as defined by publication in the leading journals and major university presses," said Dr. John L. Pisciotta, associate professor of economics and conference organizer. "However, if Christian values are not incorporated into the work of economists, it is likely to create a vacuum where other types of values will dominate. Our objective is to explore with Christian scholars from a variety of disciplines the appropriate ways of integrating faith and scholarship in economics."
For more information, contact Pisciotta at (254) 710-6224 or John_Pisciotta@baylor.edu or Dr. Doug Henry, acting director of the Institute for Faith and Learning, at (254) 710-4805 or Douglas_Henry@baylor.edu.