Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies

Since 1938, the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies (LFI) has maintained an innovative interfaith and intergroup relations program that emphasizes conversation among diverse communities about matters of public significance. The program's ability to unite voices from different academic, social, and religious communities has resulted in unique conferences and interfaith cooperation.

The Finkelstein Institute continues to provide a venue for advancing the dialogue at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The institute sponsors conferences on the social and political aspects of religion in liberal democracies, both in the United States and abroad.  Conference topics have included current trends in the law of church and state, faith-based initiatives in public policy, same sex marriage, issues in bioethics, Jewish-evangelical relations, and the state of Jewish philosophy in North America. Future events are planned in such areas as Jewish-Muslim dialogue, Judaism and Darwinism, and coping with religious violence and extremism.