Date: Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, from 5:30-7:00PM  

Location: The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary 

Series: The Shifting Paradigms of American Religion

Speakers: Melissa Borja (University of Michigan), Shaunesse' Jacobs Plaisimond (University of South Florida), and Cody Musselman (Harvard University) 

Moderator: Justine Ellis  (Columbia University) 

When it comes to health and wellness, Americans are divided on whether religion is healing or harming. Recent years have shown how our bodies can become sites of vulnerability and contestation, but do our religious identities and communities serve as sources of dignity and individual autonomy or as barriers to access and accurate information? The “American Religion is…Healing” program offers new perspectives on how we can move past this kind of binary thinking, focusing instead on how ideas about religion and spirituality shape not only American public health approaches, but also the information we classify as credible or conspiracist. Join us for a conversation about what it means to feel well and to live well in precarious times.

Light refreshments will be provided

This series is made possible by generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation

Free and open to the public

Registration is required—Please register in advance to reserve your spot

All prospective attendees must register by 11:59PM on Tuesday, November 11. Registration will close at that time.

Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend an event at Columbia University, please contact Disability Services (disability@columbia.edu or 212-854-2388) at least 10 days in advance of the event. Requests for CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) or sign language interpretation require two weeks' notice.