Lauren Turek, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor , History
-
Lauren Turek earned her doctorate in history from the University of Virginia in 2015, and holds a degree in museum studies from New York University as well as a degree in history from Vassar College. A specialist in U.S. diplomatic history and American religious history, Turek’s first book, To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence of Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations, examines 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. She is currently at work on a second book project, which will explore congressional debates over U.S. foreign aid in the twentieth century. She has received grants to fund her international research from the American Historical Association and the Society for Historians of American foreign relations, among others. In addition, Turek has a background in public history and has developed exhibitions at a number of museums, historic sites, and cultural institutions. She is the director of the museum studies minor at Trinity.
- Ph.D., University of Virginia
- MA, University of Virginia
- MA, New York University
- BA, Vassar College
Books
- The Routledge History of Religion and Politics in the United States Since 1775, eds. Lauren Turek and Cara Burnidge (Routledge, 2025).
- To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2020).
Articles and Book Chapters
- "A Rationale for Aid: Moral Language in the Debates over the Mutual Security Act, 1951–1961," Federal History no. 16 (April 2024).
- “Earthquakes, Famines, and Hurricanes: Natural Disasters and Humanitarian Aid in Evangelical Missionary Strategy,” in Missionary Interests: Protestant and Mormon Missions in the 19th and 20th Centuries, eds. David Golding and Christopher Cannon Jones (Cornell University Press, 2024).
- “Evangelical Empire: Christian Nationalism and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Post-Colonial World,” in Global Faith, Worldly Power, eds. Axel Schäfer, Melani McAlister, and John Corrigan (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2022).
- “Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations,” in The Routledge History of U.S. Foreign Relations, edited by Tyson Reeder (NY: Routledge, 2022).
- “Between Values and Action: Religious Rhetoric, Human Rights, and Reagan’s Foreign Policy,” in The Reagan Moment: America and the World in the 1980s, eds. William Inboden, Jonathan Hunt, and Simon Miles (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2021).
- “Defending the Unreached and Unknown: American Evangelicals and International Religious Liberty,” in An Unfamiliar America: Essays in American Studies, eds. Ari Helo and Mikko Saikku, (NY: Routledge, 2020).
- “Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God or for America? Christian Nationalism, the Christian Right, and the Contra War,” Religions 7, no. 12 (December 2016): 151 (1-16).
- "Religious History Objects in Museums,” in Gretchen Buggeln, Crispin Paine, and S. Brent Plate, eds. Religion in Museums: Today and Tomorrow (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017)
- “To Support a ‘Brother in Christ’: Evangelical Groups and U.S.-Guatemalan Relations during the Ríos Montt Regime,” Diplomatic History 39, no. 4 (September 2015): 689-719.
- “Religious Rhetoric and the Evolution of George W. Bush’s Political Philosophy,” Journal of American Studies 48, no. 4 (November 2014): 975-998.
- Twentieth century U.S. foreign relations and political history
- American religious history
- Modern United States History
- Diplomatic History
- Public History
- Oral History
- Religious History
Grants:
- The Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in the History of the Western Hemisphere, American Historical Association, 2012
- Gelfand-Rappaport Dissertation Fellowship, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2012
- Congressional Research Grant, The Dirksen Congressional Center, 2022
Awards:
- Hugh Davis Graham Award, Institute for Political History, 2016
- Trinity Tomorrow Award, Trinity University, 2020
- Early Career Faculty Award for Distinguished Research & Teaching, Trinity University, 2021
Trinity University Honors the 2025 Faculty and Staff Awardees
Wednesday, May 07, 2025Recognizing faculty and staff members for exceptional service and scholarship
IMPACT Highlights from 2024-25
Wednesday, May 07, 2025Celebrating faculty and staff accolades and achievements
Miniature Marvels
Wednesday, April 10, 2024Camille Johnson ’21 builds on her research experience from Trinity to share new stories at the...
Game, Set, Past
Saturday, November 20, 2021Four students help shine light on history of Trinity’s women student-athletes
Trinity Announces Recipients of 2021 Distinguished Achievement Awards
Monday, June 28, 2021Five faculty are recognized for excellence in teaching and service