195: Dennis Petri

In this episode of Crossing Faiths, John Pinna speaks with Dennis Petri, focusing on the evolution and current state of metrics used to gauge religious freedom and persecution. Petri explains how documenting religious incidents is crucial for making them visible to policymakers, countering older secularization theories that often overlooked religious influence in public life. The discussion highlights the transition from anecdotal evidence to sophisticated datasets—such as those from the Pew Research Center—while acknowledging persistent gaps in capturing implicit discrimination and the nuanced cultural contexts of faith. A major theme of the interview is the potential for artificial intelligence and "big data" to enhance real-time reporting and move research beyond nationwide aggregates toward more detailed, sub-national analysis. Ultimately, Pinna and Petri emphasize the need for a "new IRFA moment" to update international religious freedom policies in alignment with modern technological advancements and data-driven insights.

Prof. Dr. Dennis P. Petri is a political scientist, researcher, and international consultant, with extensive experience in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He has worked in academic and policy roles for various universities, international NGOs, and multilateral organizations.

Currently, Petri is Visiting Professor at the UN mandated University for Peace and Professor in International Relations and Humanities at the Latin American University of Science and Technology of Costa Rica. He also lectures at the Central American Public Administration Institute, the UNESCO mandated Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), and The Hague University of Applied Sciences. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), the Interamerican Center for Social Security Studies, Bar-Ilan University (Israel), and Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford (UK).

About Dennis Petri:
https://petri.phd/about/