JBU to Host Ryan Burge, Nationally Recognized Scholar of Religion, Politics and Public Life

SILOAM SPRING, Arkansas (Jan. 26, 2026) - John Brown University invites the community to the conversation "No Room for Compromise: Religious Polarization in the United States" with guest scholar Ryan Burge, Ph.D.

The discussion will take place on Monday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. in Simmons Great Hall at JBU. The event, sponsored by JBU's Center for Faith and Flourishing and department of political science, is free and open to the public.

Religious identity has become a powerful marker of political loyalty in the United States, and the distance between groups keeps widening. What does this mean for the future of American politics and society? Burge will show how decades of shifting allegiances, demographic changes and cultural conflicts have led to today's climate of religious polarization and explain where we might go from here. If you want to better understand key forces reshaping American public life, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Burge is a nationally recognized scholar of religion, politics and public life. A professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University, he is known for his clear and compelling analysis of how faith shapes American political behavior. He is the author of several books, including "20 Myths About Religion and Politics in America," "The Great Dechurching" and "The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us." Burge's work regularly appears in major outlets such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and "60 Minutes."

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas' top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and No. 2 private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Twelve graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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