BU Sociology

I am a sociologist of religion who is also trained as a historian. As a scholar, I approach my work on religion and culture in diasporic, transnational, and global contexts from a lived perspective and incorporate ethnographic and visual methods in my research. I am persuaded that teaching and learning are collaborative processes that should cultivate the whole person. Therefore, my teaching style is student-centered and endeavors to stimulate students’ sociological imagination in and beyond the classroom.

My research agenda is informed by my experience as a co-investigator with Nancy T. Ammerman, PhD, on the “Spiritual Narratives in Everyday Life” project. This John Templeton Foundation funded study explores the ways in which ordinary people live and experience religion and spirituality across the many domains of daily life. Currently, my writing projects include a short essay on photo elicitation interviewing (forthcoming), a piece on the construction of sacred space in everyday life titled “Space for God” (under review), and an article with Prof. Ammerman on the use of visual methods in the investigation of lived religion (in preparation).

Building upon this foundation, my doctoral thesis, “God’s Global Professionals: International Students, Evangelical Christianity, and the Spirit of Globalization,” explores identity and agency at the intersection of religion, culture, and globalization. The study is based on interviews (life history and photo elicitation interviews) with 46 evangelical Christian international students and ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the USA and China. In it I argue that the notion “calling” is central to identity construction among evangelical international students: it offers a way to organize the self around a coherent past, to anticipate a meaningful future, and to navigate the present. The notion of a calling also emplots a sense of self within the relational and cultural framework expressed in evangelicalism’s narratives. Through these narratives, calling informs action in everyday life, infuses work with other-worldly meaning, and mitigates risk. My first post-dissertation project will be to turn my thesis into a book manuscript for publication and to produce several journal articles that are based on and extend my research.

PUBLICATIONS

2009. “Picturing Religion in Everyday Life.” Sociology of Religion: Newsletter of the Sociology of Religion Section of the American Sociological Association 11(1): 4-5.

Under review. “Space for God: Lived Religion at Work, Home, and Play.”

In preparation. “’We will have a new China.’ Calling, Career, and Change among American-Educated Chinese Evangelicals.” Submissino expected December 2009.

In preparation. “Missionaries.” In George Ritzer, ed. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization. Under contract for March 2010 submission. To be published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2012.

In preparation (with Nancy T. Ammerman). “Methodological Considerations for the Sociological Study of Religion in Everyday Life” (working title).

ON THE MARKET

I am currently on the job market and seek a tenure-track position with a sustainable teaching load and substantial research support in a well-ranked college or university where I will have the opportunity to work with exceptional undergraduate and graduate students. I expect to complete all the requirements for a PhD in sociology at Boston University in time for a Fall 2010 faculty appointment. Visit my personal website for more information about me.

Website: people.bu.edu/rrw

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