Religion Initiative Director Paul Lambert spoke in the University Forum speaking on Faith and Flourishing in Your Life and Work.

Litigation Update: Legal Developments Surrounding Tithing and Religious Donations

The 2025 Wheatley Institute Seminar on Religion and Politics provided an excellent opportunity for political science and sociology graduate students from around the country to explore the role of religion in society. The seminar explored the history and current landscape of religious identity, influence, pluralism, and its impact on American politics and culture. Students also explored quantitative and qualitative methods and experiential wisdom in studying religion and politics from leading faculty in the field. Learning areas included how to explore data sources for research on religion, how to classify religious groups for more accurate measurements in surveys, how to measure religious behavior and belief, and how to study specific religious traditions.

Distinguished Wheatley Fellow Shima Baughman wrote an article for the Deseret News about returning to teach at BYU after 10 years at the University of Utah.

Past Wheatley Scholar Gabriela Coca wrote an article for the Institute of Family Studies about the negative effects of pornography on youth.

Wheatley Institute Fellow Justin Dyer co-authored an article for Deseret News with findings from a recent study on toxic perfectionism in Latter-Day Saint youth. He addresses the common attitude that being highly religious leads to dangerous levels of perfectionism, and explains how research shows that religion is the solution, rather than the cause, of these problems.