James Ault was a student of society, culture and politics at Harvard College and Brandeis University (Ph.D. in Sociology) whose first field of study was African societies and politics. His first film, "Born Again: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church," was broadcast as a national primetime special on PBS and around the world and won a Blue Ribbon in Religion at the American Film and Video Festival. His book on that project, "Spirit and Flesh" (Knopf 2004) was named one of the 5 best nonfiction books of the year. His "African Christianity Rising" two-part documentary series has been praised by leading thinkers on the subject and is used by educators around the world.