Rik Torfs Author

W. Cole Durham, Jr. is the director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the Susa Young Gates University Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Internationally respected for his expertise in law and religion, Professor Durham has received multiple honours, including appointment as co-chair of the OSCE Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and service as vice president of the International Academy for Freedom of Religion and Belief. He was also the recipient of the Freedom Center's International First Freedom Award in 2009 (whose previous recipients include Tony Blair and Vaclav Havel). A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Professor Durham has been heavily involved in comparative constitutional law and church-state relations throughout his career. He has published widely on comparative law, currently serves as the chair of both the Comparative Law Section and the Law and Religion Section of the American Association of Law Schools, and is a member of several U.S. and international advisory boards dealing with religious freedom and church-state relations. Rik Torfs is a member of the Belgian Senate and a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he was Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law. He has also been a visiting professor at both the University of Strasbourg in France and the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. In 2009 he became a member of the Commission for Intercultural Dialogue (Assises de l'Interculturalité) of the Belgian government. Professor Torfs is the author of nearly 350 articles and numerous books dealing with canon law, law, and Church and State relationships. He is also the editor of the European Journal for Church and State Research, is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Consortium for State-Church Research, and is a newspaper columnist and host of his own television program. David Kirkham, Ph.D., J.D., is Senior Fellow for Comparative Law and International Policy at the BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies and senior advisor on Europe. Prior to 2007, David served as Associate Dean and Professor of International Politics and Democratic Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. He has also served as Director of International History and Associate Professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy, as a Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, and as an international negotiator for the US government in Europe and Africa. His teaching and previous publications address international human rights, international ethics, constitutionalism, democratic revolutions, the United Nations, international humanitarian relief, and the global challenges posed by ideological extremism. Christine Scott is a practicing attorney, an experienced editor, and former Director of Publications for the BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies. She writes on international religion and law issues, and assists with consultations on legislation affecting international church-state relations and religious freedom. Christine holds a juris doctor degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where she graduated cum laude and served as Managing Editor of the BYU Journal of Public Law.