The Libertas Project: Law, Religion, and Freedom

The Libertas Project addresses two topics related to freedom in the context of law and religion in American public life: religious freedom and economic freedom. Issues of religious and economic freedom have come to the forefront of public debate in recent years, but the resources for addressing such questions are often limited, most especially in American law and legal scholarship. To address these issues, we will host four workshops over two summers at Villanova University School of Law. These workshops will include one each summer on religious freedom and one each summer on economic freedom, with each workshop comprised of 20 participants drawn primarily from law but also including a small number of scholars from related fields as well as judges, policymakers, and journalists. Outputs will include works commissioned specifically for the proposed activities, including six to eight book manuscripts as well as at least 50 journal articles. We also envision a “ripple effect” in terms of online publications (e.g., blogs, online magazines) and in mainstream media through the participation of journalists, judges, and policymakers, and we also envision the project as a pilot program for establishment of a center on law and religion. These activities will produce the outcome of influencing the opinions, teaching, and scholarship of not only the participants, but also of others (e.g., commentators, students taught by participants), thereby altering the framework within which religious freedom and economic freedom are understood in American law and public discourse.