Scholar Advisors

of the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center
Scholar Advisors of the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center

About Our Scholars

The Faith and Liberty Discovery Center has assembled a distinguished scholarly team – top historians, religious experts and legal scholars from across the nation and around the world – who are helping shape and review the narrative experience of the Discovery Center’s exhibit galleries while ensuring full historical accuracy. These scholars also help plan ongoing development as well as participate in educational programs.

The scholars include a Pulitzer-prize winning author, the Librarian of Congress Emeritus, an Ivy League university chaplain, a legal historian whose scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, a member of the federal commission that is planning the 2026 celebration that will mark the nation’s 250th birthday and many others whose commentary has appeared in the nation’s top media outlets.

Dr. Chris Beneke

Dr. Chris Beneke

Professor of history and director of academic integrity, Bentley University

Dr. James H. Billington

Dr. James H. Billington

Librarian of Congress Emeritus

Joshua Charles

Joshua Charles

Esquire, author, independent researcher

Dr. Allan C. Carlson

Dr. Allan C. Carlson

President Emeritus of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society

He was appointed to the National Commission on Children by President Ronald Reagan. Former assistant director of the Governmental Affairs Office for the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A., NEH Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and history team member at the Pew Foundation/Woodrow Wilson Center project on “the nature of the human person.”
Dr. Carli N. Conklin

Dr. Carli N. Conklin

Associate Professor at the University of Missouri’s School of Law and its Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy

2012 recipient of the Missouri Lawyers Weekly Women’s Justice Award (Legal Scholar category) and the 2016 recipient of the University of Missouri School of Law’s Shook, Hardy, & Bacon, LLC Excellence in Research Award.
Dr. Daniel Dreisbach

Dr. Daniel Dreisbach

Professor, American University

His work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court after he published more than 75 book chapters, reviews and articles in scholarly journals, including American Journal of Legal History, Constitutional Commentary, Emory Law Journal, Politics and Religion, Journal of Church and State and William & Mary Quarterly