2011 | Providence, Rhode Island
April 16, 2011 | Roger Williams and Early American Religious History
A Study Trip of the Jerusalem and Athens Forum (JAF) honors program
In his famous Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville recognized the preeminent role of religion in the young Nation. "Religion in America... must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country." This is no more evident than in the history of Providence Plantation and Rhode Island.
Escaping entrapments of Puritans in northern New England, Roger Williams sought a place where all inhabitants could enjoy freedom of conscience and religious practice. Today its capital features the First Baptist Church in America, the Roger Williams National Memorial, the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Brown University, just to name a few. Students in the 7th cohort of the Jerusalem and Athens Forum visited these and other notable landmarks during a day trip to this nearby city. Students and faculty joined peers and collegues from Providence College, established by Dominican Friars in 1917, for dinner and discussion.
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April 16, 2012 | Providence, R.I.
Professor Tal Howard, Professor of History and Director of the Jerusalem and Athens Forum (JAF), introduces Providence, R.I. to students of the 7th JAF cohort. Fleeing religious persecution and exile from Massachusetts, Roger Williams was secured friendship with the local Narragansett natives and found the city in 1636. Rhode Island was one of the original 13 colonies in America, pioneering, with states like Quaker Pennsylvania, the American ideals of religious liberty and freedom of conscience.