Michael Lienesch, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on American religion and politics, especially religious and political conservatism. He is the author of New Order of the Ages (1988), Redeeming America (1993), In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement (2007), and articles on topics ranging from the Antifederalists to the contemporary religious right. His most recent research has focused on American civil religion. He has held fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and the Earhart Foundation, and has been a fellow of the National Humanities Center. At UNC he has received multiple teaching awards, including the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and has been a Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor and a University Professor of Distinguished Teaching.