The Institute on Religious Pluralism in the United States provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and related practitioners with a deeper understanding of religious pluralism in the United States and its intersection with American democracy. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach, and drawing on fields such as history, political science, sociology, anthropology, and law, the Institute explores both the historical and contemporary relationship between church and state in the United States. Additionally, the Institute examines the ways in which religious thought and practice have influenced, and been influenced by the development of American-style democracy; examines the intersections of religion and politics in the United States in such areas as elections, public policy, and foreign policy; and explores the sociology and demography of religion in the United States today, including a survey of the diversity of contemporary religious beliefs and its impact on American politics.

• The current Institute is hosted by: The University of California, Santa Barbara