Mark Movsesian Builds His Scholarship in Religious Freedom as a Princeton University Visiting Fellow

Frederick A. Whitney Professor of Law Mark L. Movsesian is spending this semester as a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

Located in Princeton’s Department of Politics, the Madison Program is dedicated to exploring enduring questions of American constitutional law and Western political thought. Each year, it awards visiting fellowships to scholars in law and other disciplines. The fellows spend their time at Princeton doing research, attending seminars, presenting their own work, and participating in the life of the university.

Professor Movsesian, who is the director of the Center for Law and Religion at St. John’s Law, is devoting his time at Princeton to his current writing project, “The Future of Religious Freedom.” The project explores the cultural and political trends that make religious freedom increasingly problematic in American life, and shows how those trends are likely to affect constitutional law.

He presented an early version of the project, a paper on religion and the administrative state, at a conference at George Mason University Law School in March, and will present a revised version at a workshop at Princeton this month. Professor Movsesian will also participate in a panel, “Religious Freedom at Home and Abroad,” at the Madison Program's annual conference in May.

“It's a wonderful experience,” Professor Movsesian says of his fellowship. “I greatly appreciate the opportunity to spend time at Princeton and interact with so many serious scholars. I know my work will improve as a result.” Madison Program Executive Director Bradford Wilson adds, “Professor Movsesian brings to Princeton University his exceptional knowledge of the place of religious freedom in American constitutional and statutory law. His inquisitive and generous spirit has enlivened the never-ending dialogue in our Program on law and politics. We are honored to have him with us.”

Professor Movsesian will return to his full-time teaching responsibilities at St. John’s this fall.