The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life is a research center at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

. The goal of the Boisi Center is to create opportunities where a community of scholars, policy makers, media and religious leaders in the Boston area and nationally can connect in conversations and scholarly reflection around issues at the intersection of religion and American public life. The hope is that such conversations can help to clarify the moral and normative consequences of public policies in ways that can help us to maintain the common good, while respecting our growing religious diversity.

Description

The Boisi Center does not seek to advance any ideological agenda, whether liberal or conservative. It does not see its role as advocating "for" religion as against something called "secularism." While based in a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, it will not take sides in competing groups of Catholic theologians, nor will it defend a specifically

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

viewpoint against non-Catholic ones. Its goal is to promote discussion and respect for conflicting positions. The Boisi Center puts together conferences and seminars at Boston College, including one in October 2007 on Gambling and the American Moral Landscape. Visiting fellows are also associated with the Boisi Center, and the center strives to provide resources for media interested in religion and public life.

Alan Wolfe Alan Wolfe (born 1942) is an American political scientist and a sociologist on the faculty of Boston College who serves as director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Fu ...

was the founding director of the Boisi Center. Mark S. Massa succeeded him in 2016. University trustee Geoffrey T. Boisi and Rene (Isacco) Boisi, both members of the college class of 1969, endowed the Center in 1999 with a $5 million gift."Global Vision: Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life"
, Boston College Annual Report 2003. The college refers to itself as a university, as i

from president William P. Leahy. Retrieved 2011-07-07.

References

External links

Boisi Center website
{{Boston College, state=collapsed Boston College Religion and society in the United States Religion in Massachusetts