After years of relying on institutional profile pages and scattered social media presences, I finally took the plunge and built my own academic website. If you're reading this, welcome—and thank you for stopping by.
Why Build a Personal Site?
As academics, we move around. From graduate school to postdocs to (hopefully) more permanent positions, our institutional affiliations change. But our research identity shouldn't have to fragment across different university profile systems each time we move.
A personal website gives me a stable home base—a single URL I can share that will follow me throughout my career. It's also a space where I can present my work the way I want, rather than fitting it into a standardized template.
What You'll Find Here
This site houses my core professional information: my research interests, publications, and CV. But I've also added a blog section where I plan to share more informal thoughts about my work, the research process, and academic life in general.
Some topics I hope to write about:
- Non-technical summaries of my research on Christian nationalism
- Practical tips for survey research and data analysis in R
- Reflections on navigating academia as an interdisciplinary scholar
- Occasional thoughts on religion, politics, and American culture
A Note on My Research
My work sits at the intersection of sociology and political science, with a focus on how religious identities intersect with nationalism and public opinion in America. Most recently, I've been developing a framework for understanding the "duality" of Christian nationalism—the idea that Americans who want a "Christian nation" actually mean very different things by that phrase.
Some envision a Christian civil society, grounded in traditional values but separate from state power. Others want an explicitly Christian government that enforces religious and ethnic boundaries. These are very different political projects with very different implications.
I'm excited to share more about this research here, in a format more accessible than academic journals typically allow.
Get in Touch
If you have questions about my research, want to discuss potential collaborations, or just want to say hello, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can find my contact information on the main page.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to building this space over time.
— Richie