Christian Smith
Sociology
Director of the Center for Social Research, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology, and the Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society
- Sociology of religion
- Social theory
- Cultural sociology
- Adolescence
Video
Smith in the News
The Wall Street Journal
Our Many Jesuses
April 07, 2023
According to Robin Jensen, an art historian and professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, the Gospels give warrant for such variety, since they never physically describe Jesus and recount that, after his resurrection, some of his own disciples did not recognize him. For Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame, the proliferation of rival ideas of what Jesus stands for undermines the cultural authority of them all, by feeding into the “pluralistic, subjectivistic, relativistic” understanding of religion that prevails in contemporary America.
The New York Times
The New Chief Chaplain at Harvard? An Atheist.
August 26, 2021
The Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith attributes the trend partly to the growing alliance between the Republican Party and the Christian right, a decline of trust in institutions, growing skepticism of religion in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a shift away from traditional family structures that centered on churchgoing.
Religion News Service
Parent like your religion depends on it
April 21, 2021
With Christian Smith, a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame, Adamczyk combed several national surveys for information and conducted over 200 interviews, resulting in the book “Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation,” out this week from Oxford University Press.
Deseret News
A Christian survival guide for a secular age
March 22, 2021
Similarly, University of Notre Dame sociologist of religion Christian Smith found in his study of adults 18 to 23 that most of them believe society is nothing more than “a collection of autonomous individuals out to enjoy life.”
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