Prof. Eric L. McDaniel is a professor in the Department of Government and the co-director of the Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a graduate of Wilberforce University, the oldest private historically Black college or university, and took his PhD. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research examines how the intersection of race and religion influence the American political landscape. His first book, Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches, provides an explanation for why some Black churches choose to engage the political world while others do not. His most recent book, The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics, co-authored with Irfan Nooruddin and Allyson Shortle, explores the ramifications of Americans believing that their nation is God’s chosen nation. Focusing specifically on how this belief influences how Americans come to understand themselves and the nation’s place in the world, they demonstrate the pervasive power of American religious nationalism. He has published articles in the Political Research Quarterly, Political Psychology, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Journal of Racial and Ethnic Politics. Prof. McDaniel has also written several book chapters and opinion pieces related race, religion and American politics. Prof. McDaniel has been awarded two grants from the National Science Foundation and from 2008-2010 served as Health Policy Scholar for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the University of California, Berkely.