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.

Wheatley Institute partnered with the BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies to host the 2025 Religious Freedom Annual Review. This year's theme was Religion, Peace, and Human Flourishing: Understanding the Whys of Religious Freedom. The Annual Review brought a broad array of perspectives to this issue, with religious, media, academic, legal, and thought leaders. These exerts addressed several questions. What role does religion play in building peace and fostering human flourishing? How does religious freedom’s respect for both individual choice as well as the human dignity of all increasingly matter in a fractious world? Experts on religious freedom and peacemaking explored the interconnections.

Wheatley Constitutional Government Fellow Hal R. Boyd gave a BYU Campus Devotional emphasizing the importance of a Christ-centered education and the dangers of drifting away from the faith-focused center of the BYU experience.

An article in the Deseret News uses Wheatley's research on the correlation between family structure and teens' digital media habits. The authors, Alyssa ElHage and Brad Wilcox, discuss the debate of a teen's place in the big tech world and how the government is addressing the concerns. They go on to give tips to parents on how to limit their children's screen time. The article concludes with a call to action for parents to take charge in their teens' digital habits until more can be done on Capital Hill.

Former BYU president has accepted a Distinguished Fellow role for Wheatley Institute

Multiple Media Outlets Feature the Wheatley Institute's New Report