Lauren F Turek
I am an associate professor of history at Trinity University. A diplomatic historian by training, I have research interests in the history of U.S. foreign relations, religion, and the international human rights movement. At Trinity, I teach courses on modern United States history, U.S. diplomatic history, and public history. I also direct the Museum Studies minor and the Mellon Initiative for Undergraduate Research in the Arts and Humanities.
My first book , To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy, came out with Cornell University Press in 2020. It illuminates the complex and deeply significant ways in which religion and religious groups interacted with foreign policy, political culture, and the international human rights regime to shape America’s role in the modern world. In my research, I examine the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assessing the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes and to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that persecuted Christians and stifled evangelism. My book gauges the effect that evangelical involvement and American policy had on society and politics in Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union. These case studies reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy, the outcome of these policies on the ground, and the seemingly paradoxical support that evangelicals lent to repressive authoritarian regimes in the name of human rights.
I earned my doctorate in history from the University of Virginia in 2015, and I hold a degree in museum studies from New York University as well as a degree in history from Vassar College. In addition to my research and teaching, I have professional experience in public history, museum exhibition design, and instructional technology.
Address: Department of History
Trinity University
One Trinity Place
San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
My first book , To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy, came out with Cornell University Press in 2020. It illuminates the complex and deeply significant ways in which religion and religious groups interacted with foreign policy, political culture, and the international human rights regime to shape America’s role in the modern world. In my research, I examine the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assessing the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes and to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that persecuted Christians and stifled evangelism. My book gauges the effect that evangelical involvement and American policy had on society and politics in Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union. These case studies reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy, the outcome of these policies on the ground, and the seemingly paradoxical support that evangelicals lent to repressive authoritarian regimes in the name of human rights.
I earned my doctorate in history from the University of Virginia in 2015, and I hold a degree in museum studies from New York University as well as a degree in history from Vassar College. In addition to my research and teaching, I have professional experience in public history, museum exhibition design, and instructional technology.
Address: Department of History
Trinity University
One Trinity Place
San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
less
Related Authors
InterestsView All (31)
Uploads
Books by Lauren F Turek
The book brings together some of the most well-regarded scholars in history, religious studies, American studies, political science, and other disciplines working in this field, providing a groundbreaking transdisciplinary history of this topic. It explores the major themes and historiographical trends that animate current scholarship, ensuring that readers come away with a thorough picture of the field, how it has evolved, and where future scholars might take us.
This unique approach is well suited to students and scholars of both U.S. history and religious studies and encourages interdisciplinary analysis for the fields of religion and politics.
When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad led them to engage more deeply in foreign policy activism at home. Lauren Frances Turek tracks these trends and illuminates the complex and significant ways in which religion shaped America's role in the late–Cold War world. In To Bring the Good News to All Nations, she examines the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assesses the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes, and considers how those same groups promoted the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that stifled evangelism.
Using archival materials from both religious and government sources, To Bring the Good News to All Nations links the development of evangelical foreign policy lobbying to the overseas missionary agenda. Turek's case studies—Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union—reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Evangelical policy work also reshaped the lives of Christians overseas and contributed to a reorientation of U.S. human rights policy. Efforts to promote global evangelism and support foreign brethren led activists to push Congress to grant aid to favored, yet repressive, regimes in countries such as Guatemala while imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on nations that persecuted Christians, such as the Soviet Union. This advocacy shifted the definitions and priorities of U.S. human rights policies with lasting repercussions that can be traced into the twenty-first century.
Peer-Reviewed Articles by Lauren F Turek
Full Text: http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/12/151/htm
Chapters in Edited Volumes by Lauren F Turek
Essays by Lauren F Turek
Conference Papers by Lauren F Turek
Paper presented at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) annual conference, San Diego, CA, June 23-25, 2016.
Paper presented at the Policy History Conference, Nashville, TN, June 1-4, 2016.
neither the struggle for nor the meaning of human rights in this period were monolithic. Rather, a
contentious debate unfolded during Reagan’s presidency between the administration, Congress,
and a diverse array of religious leaders and interest groups that centered on questions about the
nature of human rights and their proper role in U.S. foreign relations. Where Catholics and mainline Protestants lobbied effectively during the 1980s to impose conditions on military and economic aid to regimes in Central America that deprived their citizens of social and economic rights, evangelicals decried religious persecution and political repression in communist countries. This paper analyzes Congressional debate, testimony from religious interest groups, and national news coverage to argue that the political clashes as well as the areas of agreement between the Christian left and right helped to shape this debate, influencing the direction of American relations abroad and the evolving meaning of human rights, as concept and praxis. In this manner, the paper illuminates how Christian interest groups, and religious beliefs more broadly,
interacted with the American state by contributing to the formation of ideology, core national values, Congressional and public opinion, and U.S. foreign policy. This paper also adds to
modern human rights history by demonstrating how Christian groups translated their moral authority into political power to define and advocate for their often divergent visions of human
rights.
Blog Posts by Lauren F Turek
The book brings together some of the most well-regarded scholars in history, religious studies, American studies, political science, and other disciplines working in this field, providing a groundbreaking transdisciplinary history of this topic. It explores the major themes and historiographical trends that animate current scholarship, ensuring that readers come away with a thorough picture of the field, how it has evolved, and where future scholars might take us.
This unique approach is well suited to students and scholars of both U.S. history and religious studies and encourages interdisciplinary analysis for the fields of religion and politics.
When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad led them to engage more deeply in foreign policy activism at home. Lauren Frances Turek tracks these trends and illuminates the complex and significant ways in which religion shaped America's role in the late–Cold War world. In To Bring the Good News to All Nations, she examines the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assesses the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes, and considers how those same groups promoted the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that stifled evangelism.
Using archival materials from both religious and government sources, To Bring the Good News to All Nations links the development of evangelical foreign policy lobbying to the overseas missionary agenda. Turek's case studies—Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union—reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Evangelical policy work also reshaped the lives of Christians overseas and contributed to a reorientation of U.S. human rights policy. Efforts to promote global evangelism and support foreign brethren led activists to push Congress to grant aid to favored, yet repressive, regimes in countries such as Guatemala while imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on nations that persecuted Christians, such as the Soviet Union. This advocacy shifted the definitions and priorities of U.S. human rights policies with lasting repercussions that can be traced into the twenty-first century.
Full Text: http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/12/151/htm
Paper presented at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) annual conference, San Diego, CA, June 23-25, 2016.
Paper presented at the Policy History Conference, Nashville, TN, June 1-4, 2016.
neither the struggle for nor the meaning of human rights in this period were monolithic. Rather, a
contentious debate unfolded during Reagan’s presidency between the administration, Congress,
and a diverse array of religious leaders and interest groups that centered on questions about the
nature of human rights and their proper role in U.S. foreign relations. Where Catholics and mainline Protestants lobbied effectively during the 1980s to impose conditions on military and economic aid to regimes in Central America that deprived their citizens of social and economic rights, evangelicals decried religious persecution and political repression in communist countries. This paper analyzes Congressional debate, testimony from religious interest groups, and national news coverage to argue that the political clashes as well as the areas of agreement between the Christian left and right helped to shape this debate, influencing the direction of American relations abroad and the evolving meaning of human rights, as concept and praxis. In this manner, the paper illuminates how Christian interest groups, and religious beliefs more broadly,
interacted with the American state by contributing to the formation of ideology, core national values, Congressional and public opinion, and U.S. foreign policy. This paper also adds to
modern human rights history by demonstrating how Christian groups translated their moral authority into political power to define and advocate for their often divergent visions of human
rights.
Introduction by Thomas Maddux, California State University Northridge, Emeritus ............ 3
Review by Matthew Alan Hill, Liverpool John Moores University .......................................... 6
Review by Michael McKoy, Wheaton College ......................................................................... 9
Review by Tom Nichols, U.S. Naval War College ................................................................... 12
Review by Lauren Turek, Trinity University ........................................................................... 15
Review by James Graham Wilson, Historical Office, Department of State........................... 18
Author’s Response by Robert Pee, University of Birmingham ............................................. 20