ASA Sociology of Religion Section

#Religion has wide-ranging effects on society, providing motivation/membership for social movements, shaping public discourse & fostering debate. Join us to explore these topics & more at the #SSSR_RRA2026 Annual Meeting in Denver.

🗓️ Submissions due March 31.

sssreligion.org/annual-meeti...

Opinion | The ‘God Gap’ in politics is a symptom of a deeper problem The decline of mainline churches has left us more polarized.

New in New York Times Opinion from @ryanburge.bsky.social on the “God Gap” in politics as a symptom of a deeper problem.

wapo.st/3MRV15S

Applications are now open for the 2026-2028 Young Scholars in American Religion cohort.
Applications are due April 1, 2026.
Learn more about YSAR and apply to be apart of the next cohort: raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/young-schola...

Korie Little and @ntammerman.bsky.social edited a special issue of JSSR on Religion and Bodies that explores diverse religious spaces and experiences, from Jewish, Sikh, Pentecostal, Black Church, and Eastern Orthodox communities to everyday lived religion. Read more about it at the link below!

Pious Politics - Pious Politics Pious Politics - October 2025

Zeynep Ozgen’s Pious Politics: Cultural Foundations of the Islamist Movement in Turkey (2025) examines the cultural foundations of Islamist mobilization in modern Turkey.

ASA Religion Section members can receive 20% off with code OZGEN25 through 31 October 2026.

Opinion | America’s Very Weird Religious Future

This week @ryanburge.bsky.social joined @nytopinion.nytimes.com Interesting Times podcast with Ross Douthat to discuss “America’s Very Weird Religious Future.”

The Limits of Diversity Shows that universities' diversity efforts may inadvertently reproduce inequalityAcross universities and colleges, diversity is a purported value, often acco...

New book: The Limits of Diversity (@nyupress.bsky.social) by @estherdchan.bsky.social Comparing secular and evangelical college campuses, the book shows how diversity and inclusion frameworks can reproduce inequality across multiple lines of social difference.

nyupress.org/978147983474...

“I Have a Right to A Better Imam”: Divorce, Islam, and Changing Marriage Ideals in Indonesia Marriage and family in the Global South have undergone noteworthy changes in recent years, with more young people seeking to choose their own marital partners, higher expectations for intimacy and ...

New research in Critical Asian Studies (2025): “I Have a Right to a Better Imam’: Divorce, Islam, and Changing Marriage Ideals in Indonesia”
by Rachel Rinaldo & Tracy Fehr
doi.org/10.1080/1467...

New article: “Debating Divinity Through AI” by Andrew Mackey (@andrewmackey.com) & Ghanem Elhersh in Oxford Intersections: Social Media in Society and Culture (@academic.oup.com) analyzed over 8k comments to a AI simulated Christian–Muslim debate on YouTube.

academic.oup.com/edited-volum...

New Religious Movements and the Romantic Spirit of Modernity Cambridge Core - History of Religion - New Religious Movements and the Romantic Spirit of Modernity

New in @universitypress.cambridge.org Cambridge Core - History of Religion from Stef Aupers, Dick Houtman, and Galen Watts on New Religious Movements and the Romantic Spirit of Modernity. Free online access to this article is available through December 31, 2025.

Civil servant exodus: How employees wrestle with whether to stay, speak up or go Federal workers face unique challenges. But part of their dilemma is familiar to many Americans who have to wrestle with dramatic changes in the workplace.

Or her September 2025 piece in @us.theconversation.com with Yvonne Zylan (@ucalgary.bsky.social) on civil servants.

The Loyalty Trap | Columbia University Press Donald J. Trump took office threatening to run roughshod over democratic institutions, railing against the federal bureaucracy, and calling for dismantling t... | CUP

More from @jlkucinskas.bsky.social can be found in her book The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy by @jlkucinskas.bsky.social is available from @columbiaup.bsky.social.

Section Chair @jlkucinskas.bsky.social joined a panel in the Netherlands on administrative ethics. The session examined the moral responsibility of civil servants in liberal democracies, 40 years after Dennis Thompson’s landmark PAR article. Organized by The Netherlands Institute of Governance.

Featuring @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social, @religiondata.bsky.social, @gustavofuchs.bsky.social, @tiaphd.bsky.social, Kevin Dougherty, Xiaodi Wu, @abrahamhawley.bsky.social, @joeblankholm.bsky.social, @jwhawthorne.bsky.social & @andrewmackey.com.

We met up with @sssreligion.bsky.social recently in Minneapolis, Minnesota to ask "What Are You Working On?" Meet emerging scholars and familiar faces working on all things religious scholarship!

The Gathering Storm in the Evangelical Field: Education, Christian Nationalism, and Racial Inequality Abstract. What generates divides within American evangelicalism on racial inequality? Recent political developments, including race-related social activism

NEW

Racial views of evangelicals supportive of Christian nationalism—about 40-50% of evangelicals—at odds with those skeptical of uniting God & country. Educational level strongly influences if evangelical views on racial inequality are shaped by Christian nationalism as well as reactions to Trump.

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Social media icons. Image from Unsplash.

Religion Matters. ➡️ Are you attending the Annual Meeting October 31 - November 2, 2025 in Minneapolis? Follow us and join the conversation on social media. Use #SSSR_RRA2025 & tag our accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Bluesky and X.

Find links at the bottom of our landing page ⬇️⬇️ sssreligion.org

Christian nationalism and ableism in the United States Abstract. Americans with disabilities face significant hurdles across multiple social institutions in the United States. Their inclusion and equitable trea

New from @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social in Social Problems on “Christian Nationalism and Abelism in the United States.” Read at the link below.

The Vanishing Church The moderate American church is disappearing--and it's taking democracy with it.Many people assume evangelicals are Republican, Democrats aren't religious, and moderate Christians no longer exist. But...

The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us by @ryanburge.bsky.social is now available for pre-order.

Attention Grad Students! Apply for the ASREC Workshop on the Economics of Religion, March 19–21, 2026 at Chapman University. Learn from leading scholars, attend the ASREC conference, and receive full travel support. Apply by Nov 14, 2025 at bit.ly/4htsQFm.

Transmorphic organizations: racial segregation and discrimination against LGBTQ students at Christian colleges and universities1 Abstract. Do organizations that previously discriminated against one marginalized group go on to discriminate against other marginalized groups? If so, why

New in Social Forces: Innovating through the concept of “transmorphic organizations,” @jonathancoley.bsky.social and Gabby Gomez examine whether and why Christian colleges that were once racially segregated now discriminate against LGBTQ students. Read more below:

John Brown University seeks a distinguished scholar for the Dr. Gary J. Oliver Endowed Chair in Marriage, Family & Relationship Studies. Lead research advancing relational health & resilience. Apply here: www.jbu.edu/human-resour...

Dr. David Eagle

Congratulations to Dr. David Eagle, who was appointed as the next Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion @jssreligion.bsky.social, our flagship publication. Dr. Eagle will assume the role in Jan 2026, succeeding Dr. Korie Little. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal...

Today seems like an auspicious day to remind folks that next week I'll be at Penn State delivering a De Jong Lecture on the contemporary pronatalist movement. Demographers Shelley Clark & Nancy Luke will also give lectures on pronatalism.

Zoom option is available! Just use the QR code to register.

Boston College invites applications for Director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life and tenured full Professor (open discipline). Apply by Oct 27, 2025. Details at apply.interfolio.com/173598a

The Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia invites applications for a tenured Associate or Full Professor position specializing in the sociology of religion. We are particularly interested in a theoretically engaged scholar whose work addresses religious pluralism in complex modern societies, the relationship between religion, civic engagement, and democratic political cultures, the social and economic impact of religion from a cultural and historical perspective. Relevant questions may include but are not limited to: how does religion shape cultural and political conflicts? How does religion relate not only to political participation but to the shaping of collectives? How do different understandings of the sacred inform the development of, and dispute over, morality? For additional information about our dynamic department, please visit https://sociology.as.virginia.edu/. For questions regarding this position, please contact Isaac Reed, Search Chair, at iar2c@virginia.edu.

UVA's Sociology department is looking to hire a tenured sociologist of religion at the Associate or Full level. Here is the advertisement. @sssreligion.bsky.social @asareligion.bsky.social

Details here: apply.interfolio.com/173879

Nancy T. Ammerman Nancy T. Ammerman is Professor Emerita of Sociology of Religion at Boston University, having served as Chair of the Department (2007-2013) and Associate Dean for the Social Sciences (2015-2018).Her mo...

The ASA Religion Section extends our congratulations to @ntammerman.bsky.social on her election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences!!

www.amacad.org/person/nancy...

ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (ASA DDRIG) | American Sociological Association The ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (ASA DDRIG) program supports theoretically grounded empirical investigations to advance

Applications due Nov 3 for 2026 ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant - up to $16,000 each to doctoral students conducting cutting-edge sociological research with the potential to advance knowledge & contribute to the public good @asareligion.bsky.social www.asanet.org/academic-pro...

Undivided by Hahrie Han: 9780593318867 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The inspiring story of evangelicals in Cincinnati struggling to bridge racial divides in their own church, their community, and across the nation In 2016, even as...

We extend our congratulations to @hahrie.bsky.social (@snfagora.bsky.social at @jhu.edu) for being a recipient of a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a Genius Grant! She is the author of Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church. You can check it out here!