The project seeks to nurture shared vocabularies and orientations by which journalists, academics, and citizens can scrutinize and speak about truth claims. To that end, the project will:

  1. Cultivate new and renewed understandings of the relationship between religion and democracy, with critical attention to how religious ideas, actors, and institutions contribute to—or undermine—the democratic project. We will critically examine whether and how theological ideas, religious traditions, and secular accounts reveal compelling accounts of reality. While unpacking presumptions surrounding our current “post-truth” moment, we will cast an eye toward new understandings of the relationships among religion, truth, and democracy for the generation coming of age. 

  2. Advance traditional and public forms of scholarship that share project findings through innovative publishing and promotional platforms.

  3. Create new professional networks—local, regional, and national—of scholars, journalists, and civic leaders eager to learn from one another. In forming a network of intellectual and community leaders—across the Southwest and beyond—the project seeks to promote and elevate those committed to recovering truth as the foundation of democracy.