Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities Symposium Session 1: How Religion Shapes American Culture Session 1: How Religion Shapes American Culture

One Nation Under God? The Role of Religion in American Life was the theme of a daylong symposium on November 22, 2008, sponsored by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and hosted by Boston College. The first session was titled How Religion Shapes American Culture, with panelists Mark Lilla of Columbia University; Jon Meachum, editor of Newsweek; Peter J. Paris of the Princeton Theological Seminary; Margaret O'Brien Steinfels of Fordham University; and Alan Wolfe, moderator, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life.

Prior to the panel discussion, three speakers offer a welcome to the symposium: Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J.; John Burgess, chair of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities Board of Directors; and David Tebaldi, the foundation's executive director.