Sacralizing Science in Secular Congregations
I am currently working on a book project that examines how nonreligious people are sacralizing science in an emerging secular congregation movement. The book, Sacralizing Science: Spirituality and Salvation in Secular Congregations, will draw on a comparative case study of two secular congregations to explore how the nonreligious are constructing rituals, communities, and conceptions of the “good society” by drawing on a shared faith in science.
Nonreligious Engagement and Wellbeing Survey
In collaboration with Penny Edgell at the University of Minnesota, I am working on constructing a survey that will better measure civic engagement, social connection, and wellbeing among the nonreligious. The Nonreligious Engagement and Wellbeing Survey (NEWS) will investigate nationwide trends regarding how nonreligious people get involved in their communities, how nonreligious beliefs and practices relate to physical and mental wellbeing, and how these relationships change over the nonreligious life course.
American Mosaic Project
I have worked with the American Mosaic Project at the University of Minnesota since 2014 and have published numerous papers using the Boundaries in the American Mosaic survey data. I am currently working on papers using the 2024 wave of the survey that examine diversity in scientific worldviews, factors that drive nonreligious Americans’ participation in civic life, how attitudes towards atheists have changed over time, and how generational differences among the nonreligious shape attitudes about gender and family.