YOUR SPIRITS WALK BESIDE US: THE POLITICS OF BLACK RELIGION-Barbara Dianne Savage, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania

With a law degree from Georgetown University, a doctorate in history from Yale and a stint as a congressional staff member, Barbara Dianne Savage brings an interdisciplinary approach to her scholarship on the African-American experience and the influence of the Black church on American political discourse. Her most recent book, Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion (Harvard University Press, 2008), presents a historical examination of debates about the public responsibility of black churches and the role of religion in racial leadership.