PROFILE

Ruth Braunstein, Ph.D., is associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and director of the Meanings of Democracy Lab. She is a cultural sociologist interested in the role of religion in America’s polarized political landscape, as well as religion’s role in bridging our divides. She is the author of Prophets and Patriots: Faith in Democracy Across the Political Divide, co-editor of Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories About Faith and Politics, and currently completing a book entitled My Tax Dollars: The Morality of Taxpaying in America.