Statement:

For a sociologist of religion, California is an excellent setting in which to work. Here we have religious diversity on a scale unlike anywhere else in the world plus cutting-edge religious and spiritual trends. The new religious pluralism poses challenges for civic participation and unity - and thus invites the study of new, emerging styles of civil religion infused with global symbolism. Southern California offers opportunities as well to re-examine American religion without presupposing a strong ecclesiastical establishment - and thus raises questions about the meaning of the "religious" in its popular and institutional expressions.

• Religious Pluralism and Civil Society. Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science. Published as issue of The Annals, 2007.
• “Myths Undergirding War: American Presidential Rhetoric from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush,” Social Compass,(June, 2009).
• Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Region: Fluid Identities (edited with Mark Silk), AltaMira Press, 2005.
• Bridging Divided Worlds: Generational Cultures in Congregations (with J. Carroll), Jossey-Bass, 2002.
• Contemporary American Religion. MacMillan Reference USA, 2000.
• "Spiritual Seeking in the United States; Report on a Panel Study," Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions 109 (Janvier-Mars, 2000).
• Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Princeton University Press, 1999.

Current Research Projects:

• Progressive Religious Voices in the US
• Religious Pluralism and Civic Culture
• Generations and Religious Change

Courses Taught:

Undergraduate:

• RS 15: Religion and Psychology
• RS 40: Religion and Society
• RS 143: Seminar in Religion and Society: Research Methods
• RS 152: Religion in America Today
• RS 182: Ethics of the Life Cycle

Graduate:

• RS 240: Seminar in the Sociology of Religion
• RS 243: Seminar in Religion and Society: Research Methods
• RS 244: Seminar in Religion and Society: Special Topics