The Center for the Study of Evangelicalism (CSE) at UCCS is a groundbreaking institution dedicated to exploring the multifaceted impact of evangelicalism in the United States. Distinguished professor, Presidential Teaching Scholar, chair of the UCCS History Department, and associate director of the CSE Paul Harvey is a driving force behind its establishment and anticipated growth.
Having taught at UCCS since 1996, Paul’s passion for the study of American religious culture led him to make significant financial contributions toward the center’s development. A recent $15,000 donation from Paul will serve as the initial seed funding for the CSE and with a goal of attracting further donations and ensuring long-term sustainability.
To help ensure success and get programs and research running, Paul has also generously pledged to match incoming donations to the center up to $10,000.
“I hope my gift shows that the founders of the center have ‘skin in the game’ and have a serious intention of making this a nationally known place for the serious scholarly study of American religion,” Paul explained. “I would love for this to be left as a sort of legacy so that the serious study of American religious culture may continue at UCCS into perpetuity.”
Paul’s previous commitment to establish the Harvey Endowment in the History Department to fund scholarships for graduate students also demonstrates his long-standing dedication to supporting academic excellence.
“That’s something I’m passionate about and have always loved teaching in our graduate program and hope that leaves a modest legacy of support,” he said.
His second passion and anticipated legacy is the CSE.
The CSE is the only center of its type that is studying this subject, at any public university in the United States, according to Paul. Other key UCCS staff members involved in its creation include Jeff Scholes, Professor of Religious Studies, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, and director of the CSE as well as George Wu Bayuga, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and associate director of the CSE. Two postdoctoral scholars — Ben Slightom, Ph.D. from Yale University, and Nooshin Sadeghsamimi, Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania — are also working at the center as well as a variety of student research assistants from the Departments of History and Anthropology.
“We hope to fundraise and raise publicly and privately funded grant monies as well so that we can continue bringing in fresh voices and younger postdoctoral scholars every year such as the ones we are presently able to support with grant funding from the Henry Luce Foundation,” Paul said.
He said the CSE is currently working to explore the cultural, political, religious, and social impact of evangelicalism from several angles at once. That includes a documentary film on religion and culture in the Front Range region and visits from well-known speakers such as author of the bestselling work “Jesus and John Wayne” Kristin Du Mez and a planned visit from Sarah McCammon, well-known NPR religion reporter and broadcaster.
Paul said good scholarship is always about approaching topics from multiple angles; the more diverse perspectives can be brought into the mix, the better.
“This is, of course, the role of the university — to promote serious thinking and reflection, from as wide a variety of perspectives as possible, and it is our goal as well,” Paul explained. “Liberal arts in general and the Humanities in particular is in great peril nowadays nationally, and under attack as well; I’d like our center to be a place where people can see afresh the value of the enterprise of study in the humanities and the social sciences, and be more willing to defend and support that in the public sphere.”
He said the physical location of UCCS creates a unique opportunity, as Colorado Springs is known for its long history of strongly religious involvement in the public square.
“I would derive great satisfaction from helping to create that and provide modest but important seed-funding for it as we continue to grant write and fundraise to permanently endow the center and make it reach its full potential,” Paul said. “That will all take a while, but it’s fun to be part of it in the meantime.”
Already the author/editor of thirteen books and numerous articles, Paul currently has two books in the works. He intends to publish an edited collection of essays, that will represent some of the first work of the CSE in 2027. The work will feature, among other things, essays produced by some of his graduate students in history over recent years, as well as scholars from around the country who have produced dissertations and books that draw from local historical archives. He plans to publish the second book around the same time. “Religion, Race, and Democracy in American History,” will represent the capstone of scholarly work done throughout his career.
Most recently, Paul is the author of “Martin Luther King: A Religious Life” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), and “Howard Thurman and the Disinherited: A Religious Biography” (Eerdmans Press, 2020), as well as “Christianity and Race in the American South: A History” (University of Chicago Press, 2016), and “Bounds of Their Habitation: Religion and Race in American History” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). Professor Harvey’s recent co-authored book “The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America,” was named a “Top 25 Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice magazine in 2013, an award selected from among the several thousand academic books published in the previous year.
In 2009, Paul received the designation of Presidential Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado, a system-wide award recognizing specially designated scholar/teachers throughout the University of Colorado system. He was given the title Distinguished Professor of History by the University of Colorado in 2017. Paul was also given the 2024 Outstanding Research Mentorship Award at UCCS which recognizes extraordinary efforts by faculty and staff members to facilitate a mentee’s research success, contributing to a positive culture of research at the university.