James Davison Hunter
- Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture
- Publisher, The Hedgehog Review
- LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture and Social Theory, U. of Virginia
James Davison Hunter is LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture and Social Theory at the University of Virginia. He completed his doctorate at Rutgers University in 1981 under the direction of Peter L. Berger and then joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1983.
Hunter has written nine books, edited four books, and published a wide range of essays, articles, and reviews—all variously concerned with the problem of meaning and moral order in a time of political and cultural change in American life. His newest book is Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality (Yale, 2018). In recent years, he published The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age without Good or Evil (2000), Is There A Culture War? A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life (with Alan Wolfe, 2006), and To Change the World (2010). These works have earned him national recognition and numerous literary awards. In 1988, he received the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion for Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation. In 1991, he was the recipient of the Gustavus Myers Award for the Study of Human Rights for Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace. The Los Angeles Times named Hunter as a finalist for their 1992 Book Prize for Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. In 2004, he was appointed by the White House to a six-year term to the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2005, he won the Weaver Prize for Scholarly Letters.
Since 1995, Hunter has served as the Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. Under his direction, the Institute sponsors university-wide colloquia, provides doctoral and post-doctoral research support, holds conferences, fields national surveys of public opinion on the changing political culture of late 20th and early 21st century America, and publishes an award-winning journal, The Hedgehog Review: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Culture.
His current book project examines the changing deep structures of political culture. He also is the Principal Investigator for the research project Character and Citizenship in 21st Century America: Studies in the Moral Ecology of Formation.
Over the years, his research findings have been presented to audiences on National Public Radio and C-Span, at the National Endowment for the Arts, and at dozens of colleges and universities around the country including Columbia, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, and the New School for Social Research. He also has been a consultant to the White House, the Bicentennial Commission for the U.S. Constitution, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the National Commission on Civic Renewal.
The Hedgehog Review Reader
The Hedgehog Review Reader: Two Decades of Critical Reflections on Contemporary Culture features essays by 37 contributors in a 452-page hardcover volume.
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The Calculus of Ought
The Hedgehog Review published an essay cowritten by Institute Founder James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky, Fellow and Assistant Director of the Institute.
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Democracy in Dark Times
November 16th
A landmark Institute survey finds that “fear was driving the passions of this election” and that each side “viewed the other as enemies of our modern liberal democratic order.”
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The Hedgehog Review Fall 2020
Will the myths that once bound the nation hold? This question is the focus of The Hedgehog Review's fall 2020 issue—"America on the Brink."
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Evangelicalism: A Retrospective
Institute Founder James Davison Hunter published an essay titled "Evangelicalism: A Retrospective" in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion as part of a "retrospective book review symposium" of two of his books.
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Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality
In this illuminating book, James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky recount the centuries-long, passionate quest to discover a scientific foundation for morality.
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The Tragedy of Moral Education in America
The Tragedy of Moral Education in America seeks to understand character, the definition of good character, and what is necessary to cultivate good character in our children.
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The Content of Their Character
Edited by James Davison Hunter and Ryan S. Olson as part of the School Cultures and Student Formation project of the Culture and Formation Colloquy, The Content of Their Character features groundbreaking research from the Institute on ten sectors of American schools. The book is a one-of-a-kind look into the complexities of the moral and character formation of children, discovered through in-depth, on-the-ground ethnographies.
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Where the New Science of Morality Goes Wrong
James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky ask whether science do for morality what it has done for physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, mathematics, and technology.
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The Vanishing Center of American Democracy
The Vanishing Center of American Democracy, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture's 2016 Survey of American Political Culture, was conducted between Aug. 8 and Aug. 31, 2016 with more than 1,900 Americans taking part. Fielded by the Gallup organization, the survey examines the contours and depths of American political culture during a contentious and unsettled time.
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Culture of American Families: Executive Report
The Culture of American Families: Executive Report provides an extensive summary of the findings in the Culture of American Families: A National Survey and Culture of American Families: Interview Report and includes thoughts for practitioners working with American families on a daily basis.
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Thrift and Thriving in America: Capitalism and Moral Order from the Puritans to the Present
Thrift and Thriving in America is a collection of groundbreaking essays from leading scholars on the seminal importance of thrift to American culture and history. From a rich diversity of disciplinary perspectives, the volume shows that far from the narrow and attenuated rendering of thrift as a synonym of saving and scrimping, thrift possess an astonishing capaciousness and dynamism, and that the idiom of thrift has, in one form or another, served as the primary language for articulating the normative dimensions of economic life throughout much of American history. The essays put thrift in a more expansive light, revealing its compelling etymology-its sense of “thriving.” This deeper meaning has always operated as the subtext of thrift and at times has even been invoked to critique its more restricted notions. So understood, thrift moves beyond the instrumentalities of “more or less” and begs the question: what does it mean and take to thrive?
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To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
The call to make the world a better place is inherent in Christian belief and practice. But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the 21st century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? In To Change the World, James Davison Hunter offers persuasive and provocative answers to these questions.
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Is There a Culture War?: A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life
In the wake of a bitter presidential campaign and in the face of numerous divisive policy questions, many Americans wonder if their country has split in two. People are passionately choosing sides on contentious issues such as the invasion of Iraq, gay marriage, stem-cell research, and the right to die, and the battle over abortion continues unabated. Is America, in fact, divided so clearly? Does a moderate middle still exist? Is the national fabric fraying? To the extent that these divisions exist, are they simply the healthy and unavoidable products of a diverse, democratic nation? In Is There a Culture War? two of America's leading authorities on political culture lead a provocative and thoughtful investigation of this question and its ramifications.
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The Politics of Character: The 2000 Survey of American Political Culture
The Politics of Character survey attempts to bridge the gap between ephemeral opinion and enduring understandings of character, linking the latter to the moral communities to which American citizens belong.
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The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or Evil
Professor James Davison Hunter traces the death of character to the disintegration of the moral and social conditions that make character possible in the first place. The dilemma he uncovers in The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or Evil is especially acute in the realm of moral education, where society explicitly takes on the task of instilling enduring moral commitments and ideals within young people. The various strategies for accomplishing this task – psychological, communitarian and traditionalist – all operate, in the end, within a framework that renders the goal unachievable.
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The American Culture Wars: Current Contests and Future Prospects
Even though the majority of Americans hold moderate views on issues such as abortion, homosexual rights, funding for the arts and public broadcasting, and multicultural education, extremists tend to dominate public debate. The eleven contributors to The American Culture Wars analyse these and other heatedly contested issues. In addition, they examine new developments in the culture wars. Together the chapters of this book illuminate current cultural conflicts and offer clues as to where the next American culture wars may be waged.
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The State of Disunion: The 1996 Survey on American Political Culture
The purpose of the 1996 Survey of American Political Culture was to assess the reality behind popular depictions of the declining legitimacy of American institutions and cultural fragmentation. Toward this end, a comprehensive questionnaire explores connections between political opinions and the cultural contexts within which they are formed. Topics include: the “Christian Right,” homosexuality, identity politics, visions of America's future, moral relativism, the role of government, political ideology, religious beliefs and activities, and a variety of lifestyle questions.
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Before the Shooting Begins: Searching for Democracy in America
At the very center of cultural conflict today are a host of public issues—abortion, sexual harassment, homosexuality—issues so contentious they have recently provoked violence. Finding chilling parallels between today's culture war and the period just before America's civil war, James Davison Hunter in Before the Shooting Begins poses the central political question of our time—how might we find a working agreement on the common good in a culture as fractured and contentious as ours? Hunter persuasively demonstrates that the only way beyond the contemporary culture war is through the hard, often tedious task of arguing substantively over our deepest differences: however, enormous obstacles stand in the face of such a path.
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Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America
Abortion, funding for the arts, women’s rights, gay rights, court-packing–the list of controversies that divide our nation runs long and each one cuts deep. Professor Hunter’s book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, shows that these issues are not isolated from one another but are, in fact, part of a fabric of conflict which constitutes nothing short of a struggle over the meaning of America. Unlike the religious and cultural conflict that historically divided the nation, the contemporary culture war is fought along new and, in many ways, unfamiliar lines. Its foundation is a profound realignment in American culture which cuts across established moral and religious communities.
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Life Choices: The 1990 Survey of American Political Culture
The Life Choices Study was an in-depth study of Americans' beliefs and opinions on a variety of life-related issues, abortion being first and foremost among them. Additionally, euthanasia, capital punishment, and military service receive brief treatment. The survey attempts to penetrate the broader cultural currents underlying the polarizations and contradictions that characterize public opinion on these matters. The study was guided by the following questions: Why do people diverge so sharply in their views? Who are those that lie at the extremes and in the middle? What systems of moral reasoning anchor their opinions? Which appeals, arguments, and obligations have the greatest impact upon their views?
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Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation
Largely because of a superficiality of interest and a narrowness of intellectual concern, a good deal of misunderstanding continues to surround the religiocultural phenomenon of American Evangelicalism. To most, it still represents a cultural dinosaur that somehow survived into the twentieth century. Unbelievably, it not only survives but in many respects even thrives.
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Atlantic Article Cites ‘Democracy in Dark Times’
Posted on December 3rd, 2020
“The New Comedy of American Decline” quotes the Institute’s 2020 IASC Survey of American Political Culture.
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‘Democracy in Dark Times’ Draws Broadcast Interest
Posted on November 23rd, 2020
Broadcast outlets feature our landmark 2020 IASC Survey of American Political Culture, interviewing Institute Survey Lab Research Director Carl Bowman.
Read moreInstitute Release: The 2020 IASC Survey of American Political Culture
Posted on November 16th, 2020
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture releases Democracy in Dark Times, a landmark national survey of American political culture.
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NYT’s David Brooks Quotes Institute’s Forthcoming American Political Culture Survey
Posted on October 29th, 2020
David Brooks cites Democracy in Dark Times as evidence of “a political and cultural civil war” in a column analyzing Biden’s efforts to heal division.
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Content of Their Character Mentioned in New Book
Posted on March 1st, 2020
Hunter and Olson's book is cited in a new book about education in the United States.
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Hunter Quoted in Vermont Pastor’s Column
Posted on February 20th, 2020
Georgia Plain Baptist Church pastor considers how Christians should relate to politics.
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The Content of Their Character Receives Praise
Posted on December 4th, 2019
In a Fordham Institute blog post, Chester Finn commends the book for its "penetrating insights" into schools' approaches to moral development.
Read moreJournal Publishes Five Essays on Hunter's 1980s Books
Posted on December 1st, 2019
The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion has published a five-part “retrospective review” of Institute Founder James Davison Hunter’s books on American evangelicalism.
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Review Considers Language and The Good
Posted on October 28th, 2019
Hunter and Nedelisky prompt an exploration of public discourse and morality through Science and the Good.
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Telegraph Reviews 'Science and the Good'
Posted on October 28th, 2019
One year after publication, Science and the Good continues to garner praise.
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NYT's Brooks Quotes Hunter on Character
Posted on August 30th, 2019
Institute Founder James Davison Hunter’s The Death of Character offers context for a discussion of leadership, character, and institutions.
Read moreHunter Quoted in WSJ Column
Posted on June 8th, 2019
A Wall Street Journal column on Israel’s current culture wars draws on insights from Institute Executive Director James Davison Hunter.
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‘Can Science Explain Morality?’: Second National Review Column Praises ‘Science and the Good’
Posted on May 20th, 2019
Science and the Good, a new book by Institute Founder James Davison Hunter and Institute Fellow Paul Nedelisky, appears in National Review a second time.
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Hunter Interviewed for Five-Day Vienna Radio Series
Posted on March 28th, 2019
Austrian public radio aired an extensive interview series with Institute Founder James Davison Hunter.
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‘The Inadequacy of Morality’: NR Reviews ‘Science and the Good’
Posted on March 2nd, 2019
The National Review has published a commentary on James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky’s new book.
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American Interest Podcast Features Hunter and Nedelisky
Posted on February 24th, 2019
Institute Founder James Davison Hunter and Institute Fellow Paul Nedelisky are interviewed on their new book, Science and the Good.
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UVA Today Interviews Hunter on 'Science and the Good'
Posted on February 4th, 2019
UVA Today engages Institute Founder James Davison Hunter in a conversation about his new book, Science and the Good.
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‘Science and the Good’ Reviewed in The Wall Street Journal
Posted on January 17th, 2019
A Wall Street Journal book review calls James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky’s Science and the Good “important and timely.”
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Hunter and Nedelisky Explain Why "We Are Asking Psychology to Do Too Much" in Psychology Today
Posted on January 1st, 2019
James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky analyze why our desire to resolve ethical disagreements leads us to “psychologize everything” and overstep the bounds of science.
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Barack Obama Recommends ‘Why Liberalism Failed’
Posted on December 28th, 2018
An Institute-supported book is listed among the former president’s best reads for 2018.
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Hunter on “Culture Wars” in WSJ
Posted on May 26th, 2018
The Institute Executive Director’s 1991 book Culture Wars is the focus of The Wall Street Journal ’s weekend interview. Photo: WSJ
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Hunter Calls for Strengthening Moral Formation
Posted on April 10th, 2018
James Davison Hunter, executive director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture in Virginia, spoke on “Good Kids: Thinking Anew About the Moral Formation of Children” at the Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics, sponsored by Baylor University’s Institute for Faith and Learning.
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New Democracy Book: Galston, "Anti-Pluralism"
Posted on March 20th, 2018
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture is pleased to announce the third book in the Democracy and Its Discontents series. Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy by William A. Galston is out today from Yale University Press.
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Patrick Deneen makes headlines with ‘Why Liberalism Failed’
Posted on January 26th, 2018
Patrick Deneen’s new book, Why Liberalism Failed, has received widespread media attention, with his arguments described both as “bracing” and “as a call to action: up your game, or else.”
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The Economist on Deneen's 'Why Liberalism Failed'
Posted on January 26th, 2018
The Economist reviews Patrick Deneen's book, Why Liberalism Failed, in a January 25 article, "The Problem with Liberalism."
According to the article, "“Mr Deneen makes his case well . . . The best way to read 'Why Liberalism Failed’ is not as a funeral oration but as a call to action: up your game, or else.”
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Ross Douthat: Is There Life After Liberalism?
Posted on January 16th, 2018
Ross Douthat discusses Patrick Deneen's book Why Liberalism Failed in a New York Times op-ed, calling Deneen's argument "bracing."
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David Brooks: How Democracies Perish
Posted on January 12th, 2018
David Brooks writes about Patrick Deneen's new book, Why Liberalism Failed, in The New York Times.
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James Hunter on how America’s culture wars have evolved into a class war
Posted on September 13th, 2017
Institute Founder James Davison Hunter writes about the Unite the Right white nationalist rally in Charlottesville for the Washington Post.
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James Hunter’s work on culture wars in The Washington Post
Posted on August 14th, 2017
Commenting on how “the torches in Charlottesville are a dangerous sideshow in America’s ongoing culture war,” the piece recalls Hunter’s 1992 op-ed piece in the Post titled, “America at War with Itself.”
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David Brooks on thin and thick moral frameworks
Posted on April 18th, 2017
Brooks’ latest op-ed piece in The New York Times, “How to Leave a Mark on People,” draws from the Institute’s research on moral ecology.
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Watch “Getting Democracy to the World’s Largest Muslim Country: How Indonesia Did It” with Jakob Tob
Posted on December 7th, 2016
On Friday, December 2, 2016 the Institute welcomed Drs. Jakob Tobing, MPA, former Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea and the chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee I for the Amendment of the Indonesian 1945 Constitution, for a lecture on the democratization process in Indonesia.
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THR: “The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Science”
Posted on December 1st, 2016
The fall issue of The Hedgehog Review focuses on the cultural contradictions of modern science, particularly as they connect with ongoing debates over authority and truth in areas ranging from climate change to morality to the ends and purposes of science itself.
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Press for “The Vanishing Center of American Democracy”
Posted on November 3rd, 2016
The Vanishing Center of American Democracy, a report on the Institute’s 2016 Survey of American Political Culture, has received national attention. Read pieces featuring data and commentary from the report here.
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“The Vanishing Center” on C-SPAN 2
Posted on October 13th, 2016
The Vanishing Center of American Democracy, a brand new survey report from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture on the current state of American political culture, was released October 12, 2016 at the Gallup Organization headquarters in Washington, D.C. The event featured presentations from James Davison Hunter, Carl Bowman, Thomas Edsall, and Nancy Isenberg and was broadcast live on C-SPAN 2.
Watch the C-SPAN 2 video coverage of the event here.
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“The Vanishing Center of American Democracy” suggests a new culture war
Posted on October 12th, 2016
The Institute's recent survey of American political culture during the 2016 presidential election suggests the emergence of a new culture war. Read the report here.
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Human/Ties celebrates 50 years of the National Endowment for the Humanities
Posted on September 21st, 2016
Last week, from September 14–17, the University of Virginia hosted Human/Ties, a four-day event cosponsored by the Institute celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over fifty notable speakers convened in Charlottesville to participate in panels, workshops, and public lectures exploring role of the humanities in the public square.
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James Davison Hunter at Faith Angle Forum
Posted on June 8th, 2016
Hunter addressed culture and morality on college campuses during the “Character and Public Life” panel alongside David Brooks and Michael Cromartie.
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James Davison Hunter on science and morality
Posted on January 14th, 2016
Hunter’s keynote lecture at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues annual conference questioned the current academic and scientific consensus about the nature of morality.
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Q&A with James Hunter Appears in Der Standard
Posted on December 31st, 1969
Der Standard talks culture wars with Institute Founder James Davison Hunter in conjunction with the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ “European Culture Wars?” panel discussion.
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