Second Annual Law and Religion Student Symposium |

Caption: Andrew Hull (L) presents his paper on fair representation and the first amendment, and Jill Gargano (R) presents her paper on federalism and the religion clauses.  

April 4th marked the Second Annual Law and Religion Student Symposium. The symposium began at 11am and included three panels of presentations from eleven students on a wide range of law and religion-related topics. Each panelist had 10-15 minutes to present their main argument, and each panelist received remarks and questions from a faculty respondent.  The panels concluded with a robust question and answer period from the audience. The panels included: 

Panel 1: Sean Thomas: “The Fourth Crusade and ‘Protocolonialism’: Legal and Religious Transformation in a Post-1204 Aegean”; Maximilian Zekowski: “Berman, Pashukanis, and the Queer Legal Subject”; Anders Liman: “Tomayto Tomahto? Religious Exemption, Ministerial Exception, and Making Sense of Religious Employment Jurisprudence"; and Jill Gargano: “SCOTUS is Doing the States’ Job: How the Roberts Court Balancing of the Religion Clauses is an Approach Better Suited for State Constitutional Interpretation.” Silas Allard served as faculty respondent. 

Panel 2: Brad Au: "‘They stripped Christ’: Secular Courts' Disunifying Effects on the Episcopal Church in Property Litigation and Churches' Needs for Internal Dispute Resolutions"; Andrew Hull: “The Duty of Fair Representation and the 1st Amendment's Religion Clauses"; Yash Purohit: “Doing God’s Work: Exploitation under the R-1 Visa Program”; and Quinton Crawford: “What Can the Blue Laws Teach Us About Secularization?”" Whittney Barth served as faculty respondent. 

Panel 3: Mary Kate Davidson: “Slaying the Giant: The Christianity of Images Under the First Amendment as Demonstrated by Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Worship Practices”; Eshika Talukder: “Governing the Divine: Comparative Lessons from U.S. and Japanese NRM Policies"; Ivan Kristhiane Guzman Daquial: “What if Jesus (Falcis) Asked Again?: Marriage Equality through Religious Freedom in the Philippines (and why an Obergefell-Due Process Claim Won’t Cut it).” Mark Storslee served as faculty respondent. 

Caption: Quinton Crawford (L) presents his paper on “blue laws” and secularization theory, and Eshika Talukder (R) presents her comparative paper on new religious movements in the US and Japan.  

The day concluded with a celebration recognizing graduating students who have completed the concentration in Law and Religion and/or participated in the Journal of Law and Religion, and students who represented Emory Law at domestic and international law and religion moot court competitions this Spring. Among the students recognized were also the winners of the Center’s two law and religion awards for graduating students.  

The 2025 Eliza Ellison Prize for Leadership in Law and Religion was awarded to Alexa Cameron-Windsor and Ivan Kristhiane Guzman Daquial. Created in 2009 to honor Eliza Ellison, who served many years as the Center’s Associate Director and later Director of Publications, the Eliza Ellison Prize is awarded each year to a graduate who has shown special initiative in leading law and religion studies within and beyond the classroom. 

Caption: Left photo, L-R: John Witte, Jr., Ivan Kristhiane Guzman Daquial, Alexa Cameron-Windsor, Michael Broyde, Whittney Barth. Right photo, L-R: Whittney Barth, Andrew Hull, John Witte, Jr.

The 2025 Gertie and John Witte Prize for Outstanding Work in Law and Christianity was awarded to Andrew Hull. Created in 2014 to honor the memory of CSLR Faculty Director John Witte, Jr.'s parents, the award honors a graduating student who has shown excellence in the Law and Christianity program of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion.