Leslie Ribovich, Ph.D.

Leslie Ribovich (she/her) is the Director of the Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life and Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Public Policy & Law at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. She was most recently Assistant Professor of Religion at Transylvania University, where, in 2023-2024, she served as chair of the Religion Program and chair of the Africana Studies minor.

Her research focuses on the history of religion in the United States and its intersections with race, education, and moral formation. In her first book, Without a Prayer: Religion and Race in New York City Public Schools (NYU Press, 2024), she draws on extensive archival research to show how religion undergirded school policies and practices on race before and after school prayer and Bible-reading became unconstitutional. Her work has appeared (or is scheduled to appear) in American Religion, The Jewish Quarterly Review, The New Republic, and Religion & Politics.

At Trinity, Professor Ribovich teaches courses cross-listed between Religious Studies and Public Policy & Law on religion, politics, and policy; religion and prisons; and religion, race, and education. When she was at Transylvania, she taught a wide range of courses on topics including American religions, race and religion, African American religions, theory and methods in religion, and Judaism. She has previously taught in New Jersey state prisons, Fordham University’s Theology Department and Continuing Studies school, and the Princeton Writing Program.

Professor Ribovich was selected as one of the Young Scholars in American Religion (2020-2023) through IUPUI’s Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture. She also serves as co-chair of the Law, Religion, and Culture Unit for the American Academy of Religion.

Professor Ribovich received her BA in Religion and English (Theatre Concentration) from Barnard College and her MA and PhD in Religion from Princeton University.