Joseph Loconte, PhD, is a Senior Fellow and C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at the Institute on Religion and Democracy. He also serves as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918 (Harper Collins, 2015).

Mr. Loconte’s other books include: God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West (Lexington Books, 2014); The Searchers: A Quest for Faith in the Valley of Doubt (Thomas Nelson, 2012); The End of Illusions: Religious Leaders Confront Hitler’s Gathering Storm (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004); and Seducing the Samaritan: How Government Contracts Are Reshaping Social Services (The Pioneer Institute, 1997).

Mr. Loconte is a John Locke scholar who has explored the Christian influences on Locke’s approach to political and religious freedom. His essays have appeared in some of the nation’s leading journals and newspapers, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Affairs, The New Criterion, The National Interest, National Review, and Law and Liberty.

Mr. Loconte previously served as an Associate Professor of History at the King’s College in New York City; as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University; and as a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.