Leah Mickens is a first-year doctoral student in the Graduate Division of Religious Studies’ Religion and Society track. Her research interests include the Roman Catholic Church’s evolving views on liberalism, liberal democracy and modernity, Catholic social teachings, and the rise of atheism as a popular movement.

This talk will provide an overview of the humanist movement in the twentieth century, especially as it pertains to three crucial social justice movements: the abortion law repeal/decriminalization movement, the voluntary euthanasia movement, and the early movement for African American civil rights. Although the numbers of self-proclaimed humanists has always been relatively small, this talk will show how they were able to change American society in profound ways.