Center for Faith and the Common Good

The Center for Faith and the Common Good is Pepperdine University’s academic home for scholarly investigations of how faith and religion impact human flourishing.

Leadership

Jim Gash

President and Chief Executive Officer, Pepperdine University

Executive Director, Center for Faith and the Common Good

Byron Johnson

Distinguished Visiting Research Professor of Religion and Civil Society, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy

Executive Director, Center for Faith and the Common Good Director, Institute for Studies of Religion and Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences, Baylor University

Lee Kats

Vice Provost, Pepperdine University

Academic Director, Center for Faith and the Common Good

Cameron McCollum

Director, Sudreau Global Justice Institute

Administrative Director, Center for Faith and the Common Good

Mission

Pepperdine University’s Center for Faith and the Common Good is committed to integrating key components of prolific research on the efficacy of faith-based organizations, criminal justice, and human flourishing while contributing to further studies and wider societal impact. The high-caliber research produced by the center aims to inform public policy initiatives and improve social outcomes to have a positive effect on human flourishing.

HIGH-CALIBER RESEARCH AT THE CORE

“Pepperdine is uniquely prepared to bring together strong leadership, top scholars, and the desire to affect public policy at local, state, and national levels. I am convinced Pepperdine is ready to play a prominent role in facing unprecedented societal challenges, and I look forward to being part of that effort.”

—Byron Johnson, Executive Director

Strengthened By Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Sudreau Global Justice Institute

The Sudreau Global Justice Institute is an international organization based out of Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law that provides holistic solutions to chronic injustice and equips others to do the same. The Sudreau Institute will partner with top legal minds to produce scholarship that can inform legislation to bolster the work of innovative and effective faith-based approaches to reform.

Religious Liberty Clinic

The Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Religious Liberty Clinic is a partnership between Pepperdine and the international law firm Jones Day, which will provide litigation support when needed.

The Center for Faith and the Common Good merges Pepperdine’s faith-centered mission and its commitment to rigorous academic pursuits. Though the center’s initial focus is on the area of correctional reform, the center will also seek to address a host of difficult problems facing contemporary societies, including

• disability management issues

• domestic violence

• drug and alcohol addiction

• foster care and adoption program inequities

• homelessness

• sex trafficking

• suicide

Current Research

Realizing the inherent value of global learning and collaboration, faculty and research fellows from universities around the world come together to examine critical questions and to ultimately impact our society at large—the common good.

Hard Pressed, but Not Crushed: Spiritual Practice

Inside of Prison

Andrew Johnson, Visiting Scholar, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy; Associate Professor, School of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota

Matthew 25 Project: Safeguarding Religious Freedom in US

Prisons: A Multisite Evaluation of Prison Seminaries

Michael Hallett, Visiting Scholar, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law; Professor, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of North Florida

What Do Correctional Leaders Think About the Importance and Effectiveness of Faith-Based Programs?

Grant Duwe, Visiting Scholar, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy; Director of Research and Evaluation, Minnesota Department of Corrections

Forthcoming Projects

FACULTY AND RESEARCH FELLOWS

Luisa Blanco, Professor of Public Policy, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy

Dyron Daughrity, Professor of Religion, Religion and Philosophy Division, Pepperdine University Seaver College

Cristina Gibson, Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Management, Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School

Michael Helfand, Vice Dean for Faculty and Research, Brenden Mann Foundation Chair in Law and Religion, and Codirector of Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law

Sung Joon Jang, Research Professor of Criminology, Codirector of the Program on Prosocial Behavior and Distinguished Senior Fellow, Family & Adolescent Delinquency, Baylor University

Carol Lusk, Executive Doctor of Business Administration Program student, Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School

Elizabeth Mancuso, Professor of Psychology, Social Science Division, Pepperdine University Seaver College

Eric Rassbach, Director of Hugh and Hazel Darling Religious Liberty Clinic and Visiting Professor, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law

Brian Swarts, Director of Washington, DC Program, International Programs, Pepperdine University Seaver College

Knox Thames, Senior Fellow, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law and School of Public Policy; Director of Program on Global Faith and Inclusive Societies, Templeton Religion Trust

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