Religious Movements in Sub-Saharan Africa
Exploring Connections Between Religious and Civic Engagement
Our Partnership
As a visiting fellow at Notre Dame University, Elizabeth Sperber worked to explore how religious beliefs influence political and civic engagement. We believe the research and ingenuity achieved through collaborations with partners like Notre Dame is needed to work toward equity and justice.
About DU Research
We leverage cross-institutional collaboration to address some of today’s most pressing challenges, producing interdisciplinary solutions that influence policymakers to effectively serve the public good. From Stanford to UChicago to NYU, we’ve refined our collaborative process through years of mutually beneficial relationships with institutions nationwide to understand and address challenges like climate change, HIV and youth homelessness.
DU’s current research efforts have been featured in news outlets like The New York Times. They include…
- exploring the effects of felony disenfranchisement.
- employing lasers as the medium for quantum science.
- using theatre to heal and rehabilitate inmates.
About the Project
The project drew on experimental data from Zambia, a majority Christian state currently experiencing democratic erosion. This constituted the first systematic consideration of the role of Christian traditions in regards to civic engagement in the region.
In partnership with the country's main religious organizations, including the Catholic, mainline Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, Sperber designed, implemented and studied a randomized civic engagement intervention. The study advanced understanding about how denominational contexts influence political attitudes and engagement in African politics.