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Laura Alexander

Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Chapter Member: Nebraska SSN
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About Laura

Dr. Alexander's current research includes comparative religious ethics, religion and immigration, and religious thinking about just war and national sovereignty. She received her Ph.D. in Religious Ethics from the University of Virginia and M.Div. and B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago. She is the author of the textbook Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction and co-editor of The Meaning of My Neighbor's Faith: Interreligious Reflections on Immigration, alongside multiple peer-reviewed articles. She is the Executive Director of the Goldstein Center for Human Rights.

In the News

Opinion: "When Faith Says to Help Migrants – And the Law Says Don’t," Laura Alexander, The Conversation, May 19, 2023.
Opinion: "There’s No One ‘Latino Vote’ – Religion and Geography Add to Voters’ Diversity," Laura Alexander (with Cristián Doña-Reveco), The Conversation, October 24, 2022.
Opinion: "How Race and Religion Have Always Played a Role in Who Gets Refuge in the US," Laura Alexander (with Jane Hong, Karen Hooge Michalka, and Luis A. Romero), The Conversation, April 28, 2022.
Opinion: "Welcoming Immigrants to Nebraska Is Both Moral and Pragmatic," Laura Alexander (with Cristián Doña-Reveco), The Omaha World-Herald, February 4, 2022.
Opinion: "'Christian Left' Is Reviving in America, Appalled by Treatment of Migrants," Laura Alexander, The Conversation, August 16, 2019.
Opinion: "What Causes Greed and How Can We Deal With It?," Laura Alexander, The Conversation, April 3, 2019.

Publications

Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction (Routledge, 2023).

Highlights perspectives from religious traditions worldwide, in conversation with other communities who promote, critique, or question the idea of human rights. Demonstrates how human rights can provide a platform for dialogue among groups of people from diverse backgrounds who seek to address pressing issues of human well-being.

"Christian Realism and the State as Idol: Feminist and Postcolonial Critique and Christian Realist Theology in an Interdependent World" Political Theology 22, no. 8 (2021): 680–698.

Enriches Christian realist critiques of idolatry of the state by arguing for recognition of the role of grassroots communities and enhanced cooperation among states and other institutions.

"The New Politics of Religious Freedom: Humanitarian Aid and Sanctuary as Religious Mandates" Journal of Religion & Society 23 (2021).

Examines the role of interreligious organizations that provide aid to immigrants in changing the way scholars and the public understand religious freedom in the United States and how they contribute to challenging categories of difference.

"(The Image of) God in All of Us: Sikh and Christian Hospitality in Light of the Global Refugee Crisis" Journal of Religious Ethics 47, no. 4 (2019): 653-678.

Compares Sikh and Christian thought about and practices of hospitality in light of the global refugee crisis. Aims to show how both practices of hospitality, and religious ethical thought about hospitality, can be enhanced by dialogue between traditions.

The Meaning of My Neighbor’s Faith (edited with Alexander Y. Hwang). (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).

Addresses two of the most critical challenges of our time: immigration and religious diversity. The diverse group of contributors, representing a variety of religious traditions, disciplines, and methodologies, explore “the meaning of my neighbor’s faith” in the age of migration.