As I travel around the country this summer, I am teaching an online, asynchronous “Introduction to Sociology” course at Wake Forest University. For the first module, we are considering Peter Berger’s famous idea in Invitation to Sociology, “It can be said that the first wisdom of sociology is this–things are not what they seem.” OneContinueContinue reading ““New Glaze” by Zali Lawrence”
Category Archives: Sociology
Remembering My Father Reading My Work
I have been reflecting a lot on my dad’s life these past 10 days. He and my mom gave me many gifts in life. Perhaps the greatest of them is supporting my academic pursuits no matter what, including my decision as a college sophomore to major in sociology. In dedicating my Senior Honors Thesis toContinueContinue reading “Remembering My Father Reading My Work”
Remembering Robert N. Bellah
I rarely blog here but I want to call attention to the uncorrected page proofs of a forthcoming book review I wrote of Matteo Bortolini’s biography of Robert Bellah, A Joyfully Serious Man. Anyone interested in Bellah’s work or life should read this book. page-proofs-for-review-of-bortolini-bellah-book-iss1158856-2-22-23-Download I conclude my review writing: “The truth Robert N. BellahContinueContinue reading “Remembering Robert N. Bellah”
July Message to Intro Soc Students about Class in Fall 2020
This week Wake Forest University is unveiling its new fall course schedule and students will have the opportunity/be forced to re-register for courses depending on their personal preferences/circumstances and availability of courses in different modalities. Faculty were given the opportunity to teach in one of four modalities: online, blended (traditional and with an online pathway),ContinueContinue reading “July Message to Intro Soc Students about Class in Fall 2020”
In Honor of My Textbook Co-Author Keith A. Roberts
On December 31st, I submitted the revised manuscript for the 7th edition of Religion in Sociological Perspective. I am Keith Roberts’ co-author on this textbook. Keith brought me in to do the revisions for the 5th edition over a decade ago. This was wonderful for me because I had always wanted to do a textbook,ContinueContinue reading “In Honor of My Textbook Co-Author Keith A. Roberts”
Bibliographic Reflections on the Sociology of Religion
The manuscript for the 7th edition of my textbook, Religion in Sociological Perspective, is due to Sage Publications by the end of 2019. Which is just days away. One of the the last major tasks I had to complete was the bibliography. This was no small task. Including the 269 new citations I added forContinueContinue reading “Bibliographic Reflections on the Sociology of Religion”
A justification as to why a leave is essential to complete the proposed project
I am completing an application for a university funded one-semester research leave at full pay to work on a book related to my ongoing research with Katie Day on church security (generously funded by the Louisville Institute). As much as I enjoy teaching, I am grateful for the opportunity to take a leave from teachingContinueContinue reading “A justification as to why a leave is essential to complete the proposed project”
Letter of Support to Parents and Loved Ones of Wake Forest Students
Although the university’s response to threatening emails sent to 7 individual faculty and staff associated with the sociology department and 5 other units on campus was slow, the response of our department was not. In addition to the email noted in my previous post, drafted by our department chair Joseph Soares, our newest faculty member,ContinueContinue reading “Letter of Support to Parents and Loved Ones of Wake Forest Students”
Sociology Department Response to Hostile Emails Sent to Wake Forest Faculty and Staff
My academic home, Wake Forest University, is not innocent of the open and blatant racism of the past or the more hidden and subtle racism of the present. Many on campus, including members of my home department (sociology), have pressed for the university to address this. Recently, Wake Forest became the target of open andContinueContinue reading “Sociology Department Response to Hostile Emails Sent to Wake Forest Faculty and Staff”
The Geography of Friends and Family
My sisters and brother-in-law just finished a visit to North Carolina, so I have been thinking about a recent post on Scatterplot about “the geography of friends.” The post highlights an analysis of friendship links on Facebook from the New York Times. The article cites existing research as showing: “The typical American lives just 18ContinueContinue reading “The Geography of Friends and Family”