Presentations
Dr. Walker is an award-winning instructor of First Amendment and human rights law at Rutgers University-Camden, where he serves as a Lecturer II, Honors College faculty fellow, and public humanities fellow. Below are his invited talks on U.S. law, ethics, technology, human rights, and higher education.
Technology
Keynote: Moral Imagination: From Smart to Wise Technology, International Rescue Committee, New York, NY (June 2025)
Building Self-Sufficiency with AI. Panelist. International Rescue Committee, New York, NY (June 2025)
From Smart to Wise Cities: Sustained Ethical Decision-making at Every Stage of the AI Lifecycle. Smart Cities for Good, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
AI & Polling Research: Ethical Considerations. Public Religion Research Institute, Washington, DC.
Responsible Tech in the Throes of Innovation. Panelist, Utah Tech Week, Salt Lake City, UT.
Excellence in Online Teaching. Panelist, RU Online Learning Conference, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
Teaching in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence, Faculty Pedagogy Workshop, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ.
Digital Equity & Justice. Panelists. Rutgers University Grants & Research Office, Camden, NJ.
U.S. Law
Charting Religious Liberty: From Colonial Roots to Contemporary America. Workshop facilitator. Utah Valley University, Orem, UT
Keynote: Self-Governing a Nation of Religious Minorities. Utah Valley University, Orem, UT
Religion, Culture, and Diversity Symposium. Panelist. Utah Valley University, Orem, UT
Education Law Symposium: Religious Freedom in Education and Beyond, University of Dayton School of Law, Dayton, OH.
First Amendment Voice: Religious Freedom Symposium. National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Religion & Society. Aspen Institute, Washington, DC.
Legal Principles of Religious Freedom. Brigham Young University, Global Diplomacy and Journalism Program, New York, NY.
Religious and Legal Literacy in Public Education. Social Studies Chat Network, Twitter Discussion Forum.
Religious and Cultural Literacy. Panelist, America Indivisible, Webinar
Keynote: Unveiling Freedom. The Dedication of an Official State Historical Marker, Hysong v. Gallitzin School District, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania.
Education in the 21st Century: Evaluation, Engagement, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Roundtable Chair, American Educational Research Association, Virtual Conference.
Protect not Promote: Walking the Fine Line of Religious Expression in Public Schools [Paper Session]. Education Law Association, Virtual Conference.
No Aid to Religion Laws: The Origins and Legal Developments of Education Funding [Paper Session]. American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA, Virtual Conference.
Pennsylvania’s 125-Year Ban on Teachers’ Religious Garb [Roundtable Session]. American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA, Virtual Conference.
Religion and Postsecondary Education. Panel Chair, Religion and Education SIG, American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada
Public Understanding of Religion Committee, featuring The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Education. Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO.
Award presenter at Advancing America to Justice, Annual convention, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Long Beach, CA.
Guest lecturer on Bans on Teachers’ Religious Garb. University of California Santa Barbara, CA.
Oxford University Press reception, featuring The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Education. Annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Las Vegas, NV.
Keynote: Religion and Political Contempt, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA.
Keynote: Religion and Political Contempt, Athenaeum of Philadelphia, PA
Religious Liberty, “Bridging the Divide: Religion, Race, Politics,” Muslim Public Affairs Council, Los Angeles, CA. Featured on C-SPAN.
Religious Liberty Continuing Legal Education Panel: Economic Impact of Religious Liberty. J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Washington, DC.
Erased: Religion & News Media. Panelist for the Michael Triplett Series. National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, Philadelphia, PA.
Keynote: A Nation of Religious Minorities, Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA.
Colonizing America, Constituting America, Reconstructing America, Diversifying America, Religious Liberty Boot Camp, Washington, DC.
Religious Freedom: Still Protected? Panel Moderator, The Seminar, senior communications & public affairs executives, The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL.
Religious Liberty & Military Chaplains, United States Coast Guard, Washington, D.C.
Liberty: A Shield or Sword?, Secular Coalition for America, Washington, DC.
A Nation of Religious Minorities, Religious Freedom Center, Washington, DC.
Constitutional Protections for Religious Minorities. Muslim speakers training conference sponsored by the American Muslim Institution, Gaithersburg, MD.
Constitutional Approaches to Teaching about Religions in Public Schools, World Religions Summer Institute, Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Washington, DC.
Religious Literacy in a Plural Age, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA.
Religious Liberty in American Education, Montgomery County Public Schools teacher training, Washington, DC.
Frameworks for Teaching about Religion in Public Schools. A plenary talk at education conference sponsored by the Prospect High School, Chicago, IL.
First Amendment Schools: Promoting Religious Literacy and Religious Liberty in American Public Schools. Roundtable presentation, American Education Research Association. Annual meeting, Washington, DC.
Justice Scalia, Religious Freedom and the Future of the Supreme Court. Co-moderator of panel for the Religious Freedom Center, Washington, DC.
Religious Freedom Seminar for the National Capital Semester for Seminarians, Wesley Theological School, Washington, DC.
Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Church/State Tour, Bridging Voices conference, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Religion, Secularism, Pluralism, and Democracy. Law and Society Association. Annual meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
Rites v. Rights: Legal Exemptions for Ritual Circumcision. Law and Society Association. Annual meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
Legal Issues in Faith-Based Education. American Education Research Association. Annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Theolegal Marriage, American Academy of Religion. Baltimore, MD.
Bans on Religious Garb. Poster presentation, Education Law Association. Annual meeting, Westminster, CO.
Teaching Legal Research & Analysis in Religious Studies, Illinois State University, Normal, IL.
God Told Me So: Exemptions for Ritual Circumcision? American Political Science Association, Annual meeting, Chicago, IL.
Unveiling Freedom: Bans on Teachers’ Religious Garb. Law and Society Association, Annual meeting, Boston, MA.
God v. Sebelius: How the Shield of Liberty Became a Sword. Annual Church/State Symposium, sponsored by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, hosted by the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Experiments with the Moral Imagination: Religious Ethics without Dogma. American Academy of Religion, Mid-Atlantic Religion & Ethics Section. Regional meeting: Baltimore, MD.
Bible in Public Schools: 50 Years Later. Columbia Law School, NY, NY.
Whose God Rules? University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, PA.
Bible in Public Schools: 50 Years Later (2012) Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA.
Whose God Rules? Is the United States a Secular Nation or a Theolegal Democracy? Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA.
Theolegal Democracy. Americans United Church/State Symposium, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Poverty Truth Commission. Grant writer for national forum funded by Columbia University President and Provost’s Fund and the Teachers College President’s Grant for Diversity and Community Initiatives.
Religious Education During Times of War. Grant writer and host of public forum funded by Columbia University President and Provost’s Fund, Teachers College President’s Grant for Diversity Initiatives, Society for Jewish Educators.
Human Rights
Educational Promises and Legal Parameters of Religious Literacy Pedagogies, paper presentation. Special interest group: Religion & Public Schools: International Perspectives Unit, American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO.
Religious Literacy & Religious Liberty as Security Strategies. Society of the Scientific Study of Religion, Washington, DC.
Religious Liberty & Religious Literacy, Religious Freedom Annual Review, BYU Law, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Provo, Utah.
Encouraging Moderate Voices: Countering Violent Extremism Online, Seminar for the Delegation from India sponsored by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. State Department, Washington, DC.
Freedom of Religion or Belief: Promoting Peaceful Coexistence Through Human Rights. Panelist for a conference sponsored by the International Development Law Organization and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, Italy.
Religious Freedom and Legal Education. Speaker at meeting of international law and religion associations at the conference of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, “Freedom of for from within Religion.” Oxford, UK.
Historical Views of Contemporary Religious Liberty Issues in the United States. Seminar for a delegation from the Middle East sponsored by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. State Department, Washington, DC.
Rights of Religious Minorities in the United States. Seminar for a delegation from Saudi Arabia sponsored by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. State Department, Washington, DC.
Religion and Human Rights, seminar for religious liberty interns, sponsored by the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, Washington, DC.
Principles of Religious Liberty. 14th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner. Sponsors: International Religious Liberty Association, North American Religious Liberty Association, Liberty Magazine, Seventh-day Adventist Church. Washington, DC.
Religious Freedom in the United States. Seminar for delegation from Moldova sponsored by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. State Department. Washington, DC.
Religious Freedom and Foreign Policy Programme. Transatlantic dialogue Bridging Voices conference, British Council. London, United Kingdom.
How Can Rule of Law Strategies Promote and Protect the Universal Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief? Co-presented with Lyal S. Sunga at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland.
Rites v. Rights: Beyond the Zero-Sum Game. “Promoting Children’s Rights in Europe” conference. Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
Bans on Religious Garb. International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies of the University of Milan’s conference on “Religion, Democracy, and Equality.” Biannual meeting, Richmond, VA.
Bans on Religious Garb in Public Schools. International Centre for Education and Democratic Citizenship, “Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education” at the University of London, UK.
Remembering Rwanda. Coordinator of the international conference for the 10th Anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. Institute for the Study of Genocide and Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY.
Higher Education
The National Tuition Endowment Act. Paper presentation, staff briefing for United States Senate, Washington, DC.
Ask the Experts. Paper presentation, American Student Association of Community Colleges, Washington DC.
Contemporary Student Issues and Policies. Lecture for Professor Glazer-Raymo’s course, Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY.
The Rungless Ladder: Student Financial Aid Crisis. Columbia Univ., NY
America’s Tuition Crisis. Minnesota State College Student Assoc., Brainerd, MN.
Student Mobilization. Minnesota State College Student Assoc., Washington, DC.
The Role of Students in University Governance. Panelist, Grievance Forum moderated by Chaplain Davis, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Private Schools and Public Financial Aid. Seven Sisters Presidential Caucus, Barnard College, New York, NY.
ROTC at Columbia University. Moderator at Town Hall Forum and presentation for the Columbia University Trustees, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Student Movements in Postsecondary Education. Guest lecturer for The American College Student, Teachers CollegeColumbia University, New York, NY.
College and University Organization & Administration. Guest lecturer for Professor Hankin, Teachers College Columbia University, NY, NY.