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.