Timothy Samuel Shah, a political scientist specializing in the relationship between religion and political freedom in theory, history, and contemporary practice, will be the featured speaker at the “Christians in the Middle East” lecture hosted by Washington College’s Alexander Hamilton Society. The lecture, co-sponsored by the College’s Institute for Religion, Politics and Culture, will be moderated Joseph Prud’homme, associate professor of political science and the institute’s director.

The free, public event happens Tuesday, February 16 at 5:30 p.m. in Hynson Lounge.

Shah is associate director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and associate professor of the practice of religion and global politics in the Government Department at Georgetown University. Shah, who received both his A.B. in government and Ph.D in political science from Harvard, has published articles on religion and global politics in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Journal of Democracy, the Review of Politics, and elsewhere. He is author, with Monica Duffy Toft and Daniel Philpott, of God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, and is editor of an Oxford University Press series on “Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in the Global South” that has so far generated three volumes.

The Alexander Hamilton Society at Washington College is an “independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting constructive debate on basic principles and contemporary issues in foreign, economic, and national security policy.” The Washington College chapter was founded in 2013. You can stay informed of all upcoming Washington College AHS events through their Facebook page.

Washington College’s Institute for Religion, Politics and Culture studies the historic and on-going contributions of religion to political and cultural life in the United States and around the world. Funded by private individuals and foundations, the institute conducts a number of highly successful programs including the Oxford Research Seminar; Jerusalem Experience: Hebrew University in Jerusalem; additional international partnerships in Paris, Rome, and Prague; and distinguished lectures and symposia.