Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy will hold a half-day symposium on Wednesday, Jan. 25 on the interplay of religion and politics in the 2012 elections. The event is being held on campus, at Baker Hall's Doré Commons, 6100 Main, and begins at 1 p.m.

Participants include John Green, senior research adviser at the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life; D. Michael Lindsay, president of Gordon College; nationally syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr.; and Paul Burka, senior executive editor of Texas Monthly.

The symposium will feature presentations from some of the leading researchers and national commentators on the nexus of religion and politics. After a panel discussion, attendees can choose to attend two in-depth breakout sessions on the following topics:

• Politics, Religion and Immigration
• "Old" Culture Wars: Abortion and Gay Rights
• "New" Culture Wars: Islamophobia
• Religion, Science and Politics