WORCESTER, MA (November 1, 2016)—University of Notre Dame professor Richard Garnett, J.D., will address the Assumption College community on religious freedom and how, despite growing challenges, respecting and protecting these freedoms is essential for all.  Professor Garnett’s lecture will be held on Monday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Salon of Assumption’s La Maison building, located at 500 Salisbury Street.

Professor Garnett’s lecture, entitled “The Past, Present and Future of Religious Freedom in America?”, will thoroughly examine the meaning and limits of religious freedom, often called America’s “First Freedom,” and how they are becoming increasingly controversial and unclear. As America’s communities are becoming more diverse and as the sphere of government action and regulation grows, the challenge of respecting and protecting religious freedom for all is becoming more difficult. He will also examine freedoms of speech, association, religion, and constitutional law’s relationship to one another.

Garnett is the Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor of Political Science for the University of Notre Dame School of Law.  Professor Garnett teaches and writes about constitutional law as well as freedoms of speech, association and religion. A former clerk for the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States William H. Rehnquist, he is a leading authority on questions regarding the role of religious beliefs in politics and society. He has published widely on these matters--he is the author of dozens of law-review articles and book chapters—and is regularly invited to share analysis and commentary in national print and broadcast media. Cambridge University Press will soon publish his current research project, Two There Are: Understanding the Separation of Church and State..

Professor Garnett is closely involved with a number of efforts to improve and strengthen Catholic schools and to reform education policy more generally. He is the founding director of Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State and Society, an interdisciplinary project that focuses on the role of religious institutions, communities, and authorities in the social order. He has served on the Notre Dame Task Force on Catholic Education and is a fellow of the University’s Institute for Educational Initiatives as well as a founding associate of the American Center for School Choice.  He also serves on the school board of St. Joseph Grade School in South Bend, IN.

After his talk, Professor Garnett will take questions from the audience.

This event is part of the College’s 2016-17 Presidential Lecture Series at Assumption College, a public forum in which important ethical, spiritual and human issues are illuminated and examined within the Catholic intellectual tradition. All events in the President’s Lecture Series at Assumption College are free and open to the public. RSVPs are encouraged due to limited space. To RSVP, please call Sharon Mahoney at 508.767.7322 or e-mail shmahone@assumption.edu.