Center for Social Research

CSR Fellows Mulder and Smith to present at Yale conference

Constructing a study of faith and cities

CSR’s faculty Fellows for 2006-2008 are Drs. Mark Mulder of Sociology (on left above) and James K. A. Smith of Philosophy (on right above). The duo will present a report on their work in progress, “Subdivided by Faith,” at the conference on Ecclesiology and Ethnology at Yale University’s Center for Faith and Culture on Saturday morning, September 28.

In Spring 2007, students from Dr. Smith’s Philosophy of the Social Sciences class (PHIL 201/SOC 395) and Dr. Mulder’s Urban Sociology class (SOC 302) interviewed local residents from a wide range of religious traditions and geographies to gain insight into religious believers’ attitudes toward urban areas. The presentation at Yale will draw on the scholars’ early readings of these interview transcripts.

Here is a precis of the research project:

Subdivided by Faith? Anti-Urban Bias, Geographical Habits, and Theological Influences In their landmark study, Divided by Faith, Michael Emerson and Christian Smith articulated the ways in which evangelical spirituality and practice actually contributed to the racialization and segregation of American culture—the very antithesis of the picture of the redeemed community from every nation, tribe, people and language (Rev. 7:9). Our study seeks to launch a correlate (and supplementary) initiative that considers whether evangelicals tend to exhibit an anti-urban bias that fosters a negative view of urban life, and thus contributes to the growth of suburban and exurban social arrangements. And if this is the case, what are the factors of evangelical theology and spirituality that might lead to this correlation? Exploring a relationship between evangelical spirituality and geographical habits requires both a nuanced understanding of theology (particularly ecclesiology), as well as the rigor of social scientific analysis. Our project seeks to embody a theologically-informed sociology and a sociologically-accountable theology.

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