2020-2023 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2020-2023 Young Scholars in American Religion Program:

• Tazeen Ali,  John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis (Syllabus: Islam in America)
• Philipp Gollner, Department of History at Goshen College (Syllabus: forthcoming)
• Darrius Hills, Department of Religious Studies at Grinnell College (Syllabus: Religion, Race, and American Evangelicalism)
• Courtney Irby, Department of Sociology at Illinois Wesleyan University (Syllabus: Feeling Faith: Religion, Emotions, and American Society)
• Emily Johnson, Department of Women, Gender, and African American Studies at Ball State University (Syllabus: Women and Gender in American Religious History)
• Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada, Religion Department at Kalamazoo College (Syllabus: Ethnography of Religion)
• Max Perry Mueller, Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Syllabus: American Prophets: Religion & Politics in America)
• Samuel L. Perry, Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma (Syllabus: Mixed Methods Research)
• Ansley Quiros, Department of History at the University of North Alabama (Syllabus: Religious Lives in America)
• Leslie Ribovich, Department of Religion at Transylvania University (Syllabus: Religion and Politics)

Seminar Leaders for this group are Penny Edgell and Jonathan Walton.

2019-2021 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2019-2021 Young Scholars in American Religion Program:

• Amanda J. Baugh, Department of Religious Studies at California State University, Northridge (Syllabus: Introduction to Religion in America)
• Anne Blankenship, Department of History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies at North Dakota State University (Syllabus: New Religious Movements)
• Vaughn A. Booker, Department of Religion and Department of African and African American Studies at Dartmouth College (Syllabus: Living with the Dead: Religion and Spirituality in American History)
• Jennifer Caplan, Department of Religious Studies at Towson University (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Janine Giordano Drake, Department of History at Indiana University, Bloomington (Syllabus: American Diversity: A History)
• Philippa Koch, Department of Religious Studies at Missouri State University (Syllabus: Sexuality and Religion in America)
• Rachel McBride Lindsey, Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University (Syllabus: Race and Religion in America)
• Lincoln A. Mullen, Department of History and Art History at George Mason University (Syllabus: American Religion in Space and Place)
• Brad Stoddard, Department of Religious Studies at McDaniel College (Syllabus: Religions in the United States)
• Daisy Vargas, Department of Religious Studies at University of Arizona (Syllabus: Religion, Ethnicity, and Immigration in the United States)

Seminar Leaders for this group are James Bennett and Laura S. Levitt.

2018-2019 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2018-2019 Young Scholars in American Religion Program:

• Joseph Blankholm, Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Syllabus: Atheism)
• Melissa Borja, Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan (Syllabus: Religious Pluralism and the Politics of Difference)
• Chris Cantwell, Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Syllabus: Research Methods in Local History)
• Matthew J. Cressler, Department of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Sarah E. Dees, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State University (Syllabus: American Indian Religions)
• Jamil Drake, Religion Department at Florida State University (Syllabus: The Idea of Black Religion)
• Katharine Gerbner, Department of History at the University of Minnesota (Syllabus: Witchcraft: Religion, Law and Crime in the Atlantic World)
• Samira K. Mehta, Department of Women and Gender Studies, Department of Jewish Studies at University of Colorado, Boulder (Syllabus: Religion and Reproductive Politics in the United States)
• Shari Rabin, Department of Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston (Syllabus: Religious Outsiders)
• Alexis S. Wells-Oghoghomeh, Department of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University (Syllabus: Race and Religion in America)

Seminar Leaders for this group are Sylvester A. Johnson and Sally M. Promey.

2015-2017 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2015-2017 Young Scholars in American Religion Program:

• Brandon Bayne, Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Syllabus: Indigenous Christianities)
• Cara Burnidge, Department of Philosophy & World Religions at the University of Northern Iowa (Syllabus: American Religion & Refugees)
• Emily Suzanne Clark, Department of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University (Syllabus: American Christianities)
• Brett Grainger, Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University (Syllabus: Religion and Nature in America)
• Rachel Gross, Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University (Syllabus: US Jewish History)
• Justine Howe, Department of Religious Studies at Case Western Reserve University (Syllabus: Religion & Colonialism)
• M. Cooper Harriss, Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University (Syllabus: American Preaching)
• Elizabeth L. Jemison,Department of Philosophy and Religion at Clemson University (Syllabus: History of Religion in the United States)
• Nicole Myers Turner, Department of History at Virginia Commonwealth University (Syllabus: Politics of African American Religion in Historical Perspective)
• Daniel Vaca,Department of Religious Studies at Brown University (Syllabus: Spiritual but not Religious: Making Spirituality in America)

Seminar Leaders for this group are Kathryn Lofton and Leigh Schmidt. They met in Indianapolis on four occasions: April 13-17, 2016, October 5-8, 2016, April 5-8, 2017, and October 18-21, 2017

2014-2016 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2014-2016 Young Scholars in American Religion Program:

• Kate Bowler, Historical Studies, Duke Divinity School
• Heath Carter, Department of History, Valparaiso University (Syllabus: Social Gospel in American Life)
• Kathryn Gin Lum, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University (Syllabus: Exploring American Religious History)
• Joshua Guthman, Department of History, Berea College (Syllabus: Religious Plots)
• Brett Hendrickson, Department of Religious Studies, Lafayette College (Syllabus: Latina/o Religions)
• Lerone Martin, Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis (Syllabus: Religion, Politics, and the FBI)
• Kate Moran, Department of American Studies, St. Louis University (Syllabus: To Do Right in the World: Religion and U.S. Global Activism)
• Angela Tarángo, Department of Religion, Trinity University (Syllabus: Global Christianities)
• Stephen Taysom, Department of Philosophy and Comparative Religion, Cleveland State University (Syllabus: New Religious Movements, Popular Media, and Violence in American History)
• T.J. Tomlin, Department of History, University of Northern Colorado (Syllabus: Religion in American History)
• David Walker, Department of Religious Studies, University of California Santa Barbara (Syllabus: Theory in Magic)
• Grace Yukich, Department of Sociology, Quinnipiac University (Syllabus: Progressive Religion in America)

Seminar Leaders for this group are Laurie Maffly-Kipp and Douglas Winiarski. They met in Indianapolis onfour occasions: September 17-21, 2014; April 15-19, 2015; October 14-18, 2015; and April 13-17, 2016.

2013-2015 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2013-2015 Young Scholars in American Religion program:

• Shelby Balik, Department of History, Metropolitan State University of Denver (Syllabus: Church and State in American History)
• Rosemary Corbett, Bard Prison Initiative, Bard College (Syllabus: Religion and Humanitarianism in America)
• Omri Elisha, Department of Anthropology, Queens College, CUNY (Syllabus: American Evangelicalism)
• Alison Greene, Department of History, Mississippi State University (Syllabus: African American Religious History)
• Kathleen Holscher, Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico (Syllabus: Secularism and U.S. Empire)
• Hillary Kaell, Department of Religion, Concordia University (Syllabus: U.S. Christianity and the World)
• David P. King, Memphis Theological Seminary (Syllabus: Religion and Philanthropy)
• Anthony Petro, Department of Religion, Boston University (Syllabus: Sexuality and American Religion)
• John Seitz, Department of Theology, Fordham University (Syllabus: Ecstasy, Utopia, and Healing: Religious Experiments and American Moral Worlds)
• Josef Sorett, Department of Religion, Columbia University (Syllabus: Religion and Culture in Post-Civil Rights Black America)

Seminar Leaders for this group are Courtney Bender and Robert Orsi. The group met in Indianapolis on four occasions: September 25-29, 2013; April 2-6, 2014; September 17-21, 2014; and April 15-19, 2015.

2010-2012 Seminars

The following individuals were selected to participate in the 2010-2012 Young Scholars in American Religion Program:

• Linford D. Fisher, Department of History, Brown University (Syllabus: Religion, Politics, and Culture in America, 1865-Present)
• John H. Hayes, Department of History, Augusta State University (Syllabus: Religion in the American South)
• Matthew S. Hedstrom, American Studies and Religious Studies, University of Virginia Syllabus: “Spiritual but not Religious”: Spirituality in America)
• Anna M. Lawrence, Department of History, Florida Atlantic University (Syllabus: Saints, Sinners, and Sisters: Women and Religion in American History)
• Quincy D. Newell, Religious Studies, University of Wyoming (Syllabus: Religion in the American West)
• Kevin L. O’Neill, Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto (Syllabus: Method and Theory in the Study of Religion: An Anthropological Approach)
• Joshua Paddison, ACLS Postdoc (Syllabus: Religion in the Nineteenth Century American West)
• Michael Pasquier, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Louisiana State University (Syllabus: American Catholic History)
• Elaine A. Peña, American Studies Department, George Washington University (Syllabus: Geography of American Religion)
• Adrian C. Weimer, History Department, Providence College (Syllabus: Religion and Culture in Early New England)
• Jeff Wilson, Religious Studies and East Asian Studies, University of Waterloo (Syllabus: Religious Diversity in North America)
• Lauren F. Winner, Christian Spirituality, Duke Divinity School (Syllabus: Religious Diversity in North America)

These twelve scholars, with seminar leaders Ann B. Braude and Mark Valeri, met in Indianapolis on five occasions: October 14-17, 2010; April 28-May 1 and October 13-16, 2011; and April 26-29 and October 11-14, 2012.

2009-2011 Seminars

Dr. Tracy Fessenden of Arizona State University and Dr. Clark Gilpin of the University of Chicago Divinity School lead the seminars on teaching, research, and professional matters for the 2009-2011 “class,” which includes the following scholars:

• Faye Botham, University of Iowa, American Indian & Native Studies Program/American Studies Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University, Religion, 2005 (Syllabus: Religion and Society)
• Heather Curtis, Tufts University, Department of Religion Th.D., Harvard University, History, 2005 (Syllabus: Religion and American Politics: 1600-Present)
• Jonathan Ebel, University of Illinois, Department of Religion Ph.D., University of Chicago, History of Christianity, 2004 (Syllabus: Religion in America, 1900-1941)
• Maura Jane Farrelly, Brandeis University, American Studies Ph.D., Emory University, History, 2002 (Syllabus: Religion in American Life)
• Jennifer Graber, College of Wooster, Religious Studies ,Ph.D., Duke University, American Religious History, 2006 (Syllabus: American Religious Communities)
• Matthew J. Grow, LDS Church, Church History Library, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, American History, 2006 (Syllabus: Communal Utopias in America)
• Everett Hamner,Western Illinois University, Department of English, Ph.D., University of Iowa, English, 2008 (Syllabus: Religion, Literature, and Film: Global Pursuits of Meaning)
• Joseph Kip Kosek, George Washington University, American Studies, Ph.D., Yale University, American Studies, 2004 (Syllabus: U.S. Religion and Politics)
• Lynn S. Neal, Wake Forest University, Department of Religion, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U.S. Religious History, 2003 (Syllabus: Religious Sects and Cults: The Study of New Religious Movements in the U.S.)
• Jonathan L. Walton, Harvard Divinity School, African American Religions, Ph.D., Princeton University, Religion, 2002 (Syllabus: Malcom, Martin, and Masculinity)

2007-2009 Seminars

Dr. Amanda Porterfield of Florida State University and Dr. Paul Harvey of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs led the seminars on teaching, research, and professional matters for the 2007-2009 “class,” which included the following scholars:

• Edward Blum, San Diego State University, Department of History, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, History, 2003 (Syllabus: American Religious History)
• Darren Dochuk, Purdue University, Department of History, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, History, 2005 (Syllabus: Religion, Politics, and Society in Modern U.S. History)

• Katherine Carte Engel, Texas A&M University, Department of History; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, American History, 2003 (Syllabus: Religion in U.S. History Since 1865)
• J. Spencer Fluhman, Brigham Young University, Department of Church History, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, History, 2006 (Syllabus: American Religious History)
• Rebecca A. Goetz, Rice University, History Department, Ph.D., Harvard University, Early American History, 2006 (Syllabus: Religion in Early North America)
• Charles F. Irons, Elon University, Department of History, Ph.D., University of Virginia, American History, 2003 (Syllabus: History of Religion in the U.S.)
• Kathryn Lofton, Yale University, Religious Studies and American Studies, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Religious Studies, 2005 (Syllabus: Religion and Sexuality in America)
• Randall Stephens, Eastern Nazarene College, Department of History; Ph.D., University of Florida, American History, 2003 (Syllabus: Religion and American Culture)
• Matthew A. Sutton, Washington State University, Department of History, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, History, 2005 (Syllabus: Religion and American Culture)
• Tisa Wenger, Yale Divinity School, American Religious History, Ph.D., Princeton University, Religion, 2002 (Syllabus: Defining Religion in America)

2005-2006 Seminars

Dr. Judith Weisenfeld of Vassar College and Dr. John Corrigan of Florida State University led the seminars on teaching and research for the 2005-06 “class,” which included the following scholars:

• Julius Bailey, University of Redlands, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, American Religious History, 2003 (Syllabus: African American Religions)

• Courtney Bender, Columbia University; Department of Religion, Ph.D., Princeton University, Sociology, 1997 (Syllabus: Religion and the City)
• Lila Corwin Berman, Pennsylvania State University; Department of History and Religious Studies Program, and Jewish Studies Program, Ph.D., Yale University, Religious Studies, 2004 (Syllabus: American Jewish History and Culture)
•  Joseph Creech, Valparaiso University, Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, and History and Humanities, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, History, 2000 (Syllabus: Religious Narratives in American Identity)
• Kathleen Sprows Cummings, University of Notre Dame, Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, U.S. History, 1999 (Syllabus: Women and American Catholicism)
• Henry Goldschmidt, Wesleyan University, Department of Religion,, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz, Anthropology, 2000 (Syllabus: Chosen Peoples, Chosen Nation)
• Charles Israel, Auburn University, Department of History, Ph.D., Rice University, History, 2001 (Syllabus: History of Religion in America)
• Sylvester Johnson, Indiana University, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, Contemporary Religious Thought, 2002 (Syllabus: The Bible and Race in America)
• Tracy Leavelle, Creighton University; Department of History, Ph.D., Arizona State University, History, 2001 (Syllabus: American Religions: In Search of the Promised Land)
• John Lardas Modern, Franklin and Marshall College, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, 2003 (Syllabus: Varieties of Secularism in American History)
• Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Religion Department, Ph.D., Indiana University, American Religious History, 2001 (Syllabus: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion)
• Evelyn Sterne, University of Rhode Island, Department of History, Ph.D, Duke University, History, 1999 (Syllabus: History of Religion in the U.S.)
• Christopher White, Georgia State University, Religious Studies Department, Ph.D., Harvard University, Religion in America, 2002 (Syllabus: Religion in America)

2004-2005 Seminars

Dr. Catherine Brekus of the University of Chicago and Dr. Peter W. Williams of Miami University led the seminars on teaching and research for the 2004-05 “class,” which included the following scholars:

• Jonathan Baer, Wabash College, Department of Religion, Ph.D., Yale University, Religious Studies, 2002 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• James B. Bennett, Santa Clara University, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D., Yale University, American Religious History, 1999 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Wendy Cadge, Bowdoin College, Department of Sociology, Ph.D., Princeton University, Sociology, 2002 (Syllabus: Religion in American Life: A Sociological Approach)
• Richard J. Callahan, Jr., University of Missouri-Columbia, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, 2002 (Syllabus: History of Religion Post-Civil War America)
• John Giggie, University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of History, Ph.D., Princeton University, History, 1998 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Rebecca Kneale Gould, Middlebury College, Department of Religion,, Ph.D., Harvard University, Religious Studies, 1997 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University, Department of History, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, History, 2001 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Amy Koehlinger, Florida State University, Department of Religion, Ph.D., Yale University, Religious Studies, 2002 (Syllabus: Religion(s) in the U.S.)
• Luis E. Murillo, Trinity University, Religion Department, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, Latin American History, 2002 (Syllabus: Religion in the U.S.)
• John Schmalzbauer, Southwest Missouri State University, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D., Princeton University, Sociology, 1997 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Sarah McFarland Taylor, Northwestern University, Department of Religion, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, Religion and American Culture, 1999 (Syllabus: American Religion and Popular Culture in Theoretical Perspective)
• Anne Blue Wills, Davidson College, Department of Religion, Ph.D., Duke University, American Church History, 2001 (Syllabus: Particularity, Americanization, and the Aesthetics of the U.S. Religious Quest)

2003-2004 Seminars

Twelve scholars were chosen from over sixty applicants to be the “class” of 2003-2004. Dr. Anne Taves of the Claremont School of Theology and Dr. Stephen Prothero of Boston University led the seminars on teaching and on research and publication. Participants in the 2003-2004 class included the following scholars:

• Robert E. Brown, Bucknell University, Department of Religion, Ph.D. University of Iowa, American Religious History, 1999 (Syllabus: Varieties of American Evangelicalism)

• Julie Byrne, Duke University, Department of Religion, Ph.D. Duke University, American Religion, 2000 (Syllabus: Lived Religion in America)
• Martha Finch, Southwest Missouri State University, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. University of California Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, 2000 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Kathleen Flake, Vanderbilt University, The Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion, Ph.D. University of Chicago, History of Christianity, 2000 (Syllabus: Church and State in American History)
• Clarence Hardy, Dartmouth College, Religion Department, Ph.D. Union Theological Seminary, Theology, 2001 (Syllabus: Religion and Society in America)
• Khyati Joshi, Fairleigh-Dickinson University, Education Department, Ed.D. University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Social Justice Education, 2001 (Syllabus: Religion and American Public Schools)
• Kristin Schwain, University of Missouri Columbia, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Ph.D. Stanford University, Art History and Humanities, 2001 (Syllabus: Intro to the Visual Culture of American Religions)
• Danielle Sigler, Austin College, Religion Department, Ph.D. University of Texas, American Studies, 2001 (Syllabus: American Gospels)
• Rachel Wheeler, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Department of Religious Studies; Ph.D. Yale University, History, 1998 (Syllabus: American Religion)
• Douglas Winiarski, University of Richmond, Religion Department, Ph.D. Indiana University, Religious Studies, 2000 (Syllabus: Art, Religion, and Material Culture in America)
• David Yamane, Wake Forest University; Department of Sociology, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Sociology, 1998 (Syllabus: Religion in Postwar America)

1997-1999 Seminars

The third phase of the Young Scholars in American Religion program was expanded to include sections geared toward historians, sociologists, and seminary professors, in addition to scholars in religious studies departments. Seminars were held in Indianapolis, at Duke University Divinity School, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and at the Cushwa Center at the University of Notre Dame. Senior scholars Deborah Dash Moore,Vassar College, Grant Wacker, Duke University Divinity School, Wade Clark Roof, University of California Santa Barbara, and Philip Gleason, University of Notre Dame, led the seminars.

History Seminar participants: 

• Karin E. Gedge, West Chester University, Department of History, Ph.D. Yale University, American Studies, 1994 (Syllabus: American Religions)
• Eugene B. McCarraher, University of Delaware, Department of History, Ph.D. Rutgers University, History, 1995 (Syllabus: American Religious History)
• Linda Przybyszewski, University of Cincinnati, Department of History, Ph.D. Stanford University, American History, 1989 (Syllabus: Law and Religion in U.S. History)
• Kathleen Riley, Ohio Dominican College, Department of History, Ph.D. University of Notre Dame, History, 1988 (Syllabus: History of Christianity in the U.S.)
• Beth Schweiger, University of Virginia, Department of History, Ph.D. University of Virginia, American History, 1994 (Syllabus: Religion in America: 1600-1865)
• James Treat, University of New Mexico, American Studies Department, Ph.D. Graduate Theological Union, Religious Studies, 1993 (Syllabus: Religion and American Culture)
• Roberto Trevino, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Department of History, Ph.D. Stanford University, United States History, 1993 (Syllabus: Religion in American History)
• Beth Wenger, University of Pennsylvania, Department of History, Ph.D. Yale University, Modern Jewish History, 1992 (Syllabus: Defining Religion in America)
• David Yoo, Claremont McKenna College, Department of History, Ph.D. Yale University, History, 1994 (Syllabus: American Religious History)

Seminary Seminar participants: 

• Christopher Evans, Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Historical Studies, Ph.D. Northwestern University / Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Religious and Theological Studies, 1993 (Syllabus: United Methodist History and Theology)
• Keith Harper, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Church History, Ph.D. University of Kentucky, American History, 1991 (Syllabus: American Religious History)
• Bruce Hindmarsh, Briercrest Biblical Seminary, Church History, Ph.D. University of Oxford, Theology, 1993 (Syllabus: Studies in Christian Conversion and Spiritual Autobiography)
• Lydia Huffman Hoyle, Georgetown College, Department of Religion, Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Religious Studies, 1992 (Syllabus: Denominationalism in America)
• Julia M. Speller, Chicago Theological Seminary, Church History, Ph.D. University of Chicago, History of Christianity, 1996 (Syllabus: American Civil Religion)
• Eleanor J. Stebner, The University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Theology, Ph.D. Northwestern University / Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Religious and Theological Studies, 1994 (Syllabus: History of Religious Life and Practice in Canada and the U.S.)

Religious Studies Seminar participants: 

• Ava Chamberlain, Wright State University, Department of Religion, Ph.D Columbia University, Religion, 1990 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. University of Virginia, Religious Studies, 1993 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Kathleen M. Joyce, Duke University, Department of Religion, Ph.D. Princeton University, Religion, 1995 (Syllabus: Religion in American Life)
• Laura Levitt, Temple University, Religion Department, Ph.D. Emory University, Religion, 1993 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Elizabeth A. McAlister, Wesleyan University, Department of Religion, Ph.D. Yale University, American Studies and African American Studies, 1995 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Leonard Norman Primiano, Cabrini College, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Religious Studies & Folklore and Folklife, 1993 (Syllabus: American Religious Folklife)
• Jennifer Rycenga, San Jose State University, Comparative Religious Studies Program, Ph.D. Graduate Theological Union, Religion and the Arts, 1992 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• T. Paul Thigpen, Saint Thomas More College, Religious Studies Department, Ph.D. Emory University, Religion, 1995 (Syllabus: Religion in America)

Sociology Seminar participants: 

• Lori G. Beaman, University of Lethbridge, Department of Sociology, Ph.D. University of New Brunswick, Sociology, 1996 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• Patricia M.Y.Chang, University of Notre Dame, Department of Sociology, Ph.D. Stanford University, Sociology, 1993 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• Michael Emerson, Bethel College, Department of Cultural Studies, Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Sociology, 1991 (Syllabus: Religion in Society)
• Eric K. Gormly, Arizona State University, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunications, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, Radio-Television-Film, 1994 (Syllabus: Media, Religion, and Culture)
• Conrad Kanagy, Elizabethtown College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ph.D. Penn State University, Sociology, 1993 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• William L. MacDonald, Ohio State University at Newark, Department of Sociology, Ph.D Bowling Green State University, Sociology, 1992 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• William Mirola, Marian College, Department of Sociology, Ph.D. Indiana University, Sociology, 1995 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• Susanne Monahan, Montana State University, Department of Sociology, Ph.D. Stanford University, Sociology, 1993 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• Richard L. Wood, University of New Mexico, Department of Sociology, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Sociology, 1995 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion)
• Wendy W. Young, University of Florida, Department of Sociology, Ph.D. Oxford University, Social Studies, 1993 (Syllabus: Sociology of Religion: Dead White Men and Beyond)

1994-1996 Seminars

Ten young scholars selected from over 70 applicants were selected for the 2 year program begun in 1994. Professor Harry Stout of Yale University conducted the seminars on teaching the introductory course, while Dean John Wilson of Princeton University was selected to lead the seminars on research and publication.

Participants in the second series of Young Scholars in American Religion seminars included the following scholars: 

• Diana Butler Bass, Rhodes College, Religious Studies Department, Ph.D. Duke University, History of Christianity, 1991 (Syllabus: American Christianity)
• Yvonne Chireau, Swarthmore College, Department of Religion, Ph.D. Princeton University, Religious Studies, 1994 (Syllabus: Religion in America: A Multicultural Approach)
• Steven Epperson, Ph.D. Temple University, American Religious History, 1991 (Syllabus: History of Religion in America)
• James German, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Department of History, Ph.D. University of California, Riverside, History, 1989 (Syllabus: Religions in American Cultures)
• Philip K. Goff, California State University, Los Angeles, Department of History, Ph.D. University of North Carolina, American Religious History, 1993 (Syllabus: Religion in the U.S.)
• Paul Harvey, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Department of History, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, American History, 1992 (Syllabus: History of Religion in America)
• Judith Hunter, State University of New York at Geneseo, Department of History, Ph.D. Yale University, History, 1991 (Syllabus: Religion in American History)
• Kathryn Long, Wheaton College, Department of History, Ph.D. Duke University, History of Christianity, 1993 (Syllabus: History of Christianity in North America)
• Lawrence W. Snyder, Western Kentucky University, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ph.D. University of North Carolina, American Religious History, 1992 (Syllabus: Religion in Contemporary America)
• Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Washington and Lee University, Department of Religion, Ph.D. Religious Studies, University of Chicago, 1993, J.D. 1976 (Syllabus: Introduction to American Religion)

1991-1993 Seminars

Beginning in 1991, fifteen young scholars from across the nation, selected from over 100 applicants, convened in Indianapolis for four two-day seminars. Two of the seminars were devoted to teaching the introductory course in American religion, and two were devoted to the enhancement of research and publication. Professor Catherine Albanese of the University of California, Santa Barbara served as the director of the seminars on teaching. Professor William Hutchison of the Harvard Divinity School led the seminars on research and publication.

Participants in the first series of Young Scholars in American Religion program included: 

• Betty A. DeBerg, University of Northern Iowa, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ph.D. Vanderbilt University, American Religious History, 1988 (Syllabus: The American Religious Experience)
• Madeline Duntley, The College of Wooster, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, Religious Studies, 1990 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Tony Fels, University of San Francisco, History Department, Ph.D. Stanford University, United States History, 1987 (Syllabus: Religion in American History)
• Matthew Glass, South Dakota State University, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Ph.D. Graduate Theological Union, Religion and Society, 1989 (Syllabus: Religion in American Culture)
• Rosemary D. Gooden, DePaul University, Department of History, Ph.D. University of Michigan, American Culture, 1987 (Syllabus: The American Religious Experience)
• Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, University of North Carolina, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. Yale University, History, 1990 (Syllabus: History of Religion in America)
• Andrew M. Manis, Mercer Press, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, American Religious History, 1984 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Joel W. Martin, Franklin and Marshall College, Department of Religion, Ph.D. Duke University, Religious Studies, 1988 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• Gerald R. McDermott, University of Roanoke, Religion Department, Ph.D.: University of Iowa, Religion, 1989 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• D. Keith Naylor, Occidental College, Religious Studies Department, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, 1987 (Syllabus: Introduction to Religion in America)
• Rodger Payne, Louisiana State University, Department of Philosophy, Ph.D. University of Virginia, American Religious History, 1989 (Syllabus: Religion in the U.S.)
• Stephen Prothero, Boston University, Department of Philosophy, Ph.D. Harvard University, Study of Religion, 1990 (Syllabus: Religion in America)
• John Stackhouse, Jr., Regent College, Department of Religion, Ph.D. University of Chicago, History of Christianity, 1987 (Syllabus: The American Religious Experience)
• Thomas Tweed, University of North Carolina,, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. Stanford University, Religious Studies, 1989 (Syllabus: Religion in American Life)
• Valarie Ziegler, DePauw University, Department of Religious Studies, Ph.D. Emory University, Historical Theology, 1987 (Syllabus: American Religious History)