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Background

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Kenneth D. Wald is Distinguished Professor of Political Science Emeritus and the Samuel R. “Bud” Shorstein Professor Emeritus of American Jewish Culture and Society at the University of Florida. He has written about the relationship of religion and politics in the United States, Great Britain, and Israel.

His newest book, The Foundations of American Jewish Liberalism, published by Cambridge University Press, won the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies in 2020. His other books include Religion and Politics in the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018, 8th ed.), The Politics of Cultural Differences: Social Change and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period (Princeton University Press, 2002), The Politics of Gay Rights (University of Chicago Press, 2000), Private Lives, Public Conflicts (CQ Press, 1997), and Crosses on the Ballot: Patterns of British Voter Alignment Since 1885 (Princeton University Press, 1983)..

Wald has held visiting positions at the University of Toronto, the University of Manchester, Linnaeus University (Sweden), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Strathyclyde (Scotland), Haifa University (Israel), Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and the Centennial Center for Political Science & Public Affairs in Washington, DC. He has lectured widely at academic institutions in the United States and abroad.

Together with David C. Leege, he created and coedits the Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics for Cambridge University Press.  He served on the editorial boards of Politics and Religion, Political Behavior and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

At the University of Florida, he served as chair  of the Department of Political Science and director of the Center for Jewish Studies. In 2011, he received the University’s highest faculty award, Teacher/Scholar of the Year.

Dr. Wald received his BA from the University of Nebraska, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and earned his graduate degrees at Washington University in St. Louis.

Areas of Interest/Research

  • Religion and Politics
  • Social Movements
  • Survey Research

Contact Information

Dr. Wald can be reached by
Phone: (352) 219-5925
Fax: (352) 392–8127
Email: kenwald@ufl.edu

Mailing address:
Department of Political Science
University of Florida
P.O. Box 117325
Gainesville, FL 32611-7325.