President-Elect

Korie L. Little | The Ohio State University

Dr. Korie L. Little is University Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Sociology for the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University. Little is a leading scholar of race, religion, and leadership in the United States. She has written several books and articles on multiracial religious organizations, including The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches (author, Oxford University Press) and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (co-author, New York University Press). Little’s recent scholarship focuses on leadership. Her award-winning book, Smart Suits, Tattered Boots: Black Ministers Mobilizing the Black Church in the Twenty-First Century (co-author, New York University Press), examines black religious leaders’ engagement in the 2012 election to understand their civic and political participation and mobilization in today’s America. Her most recent book, Estranged Pioneers: Race, Faith and Leadership, recognized by Christianity Today as one of their “picks for the books most likely to shape evangelical life, thought, and culture,” examines how leaders of color navigate and experience heading racially diverse congregations (co-author, Oxford University Press). Little is also Editor-in-Chief for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and Past President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, an international, interdisciplinary association (www.sssrweb.org). She has directed or co-directed several funded research projects totaling nearly 1.8 million grant dollars. This includes the Religious Leadership and Diversity Project (RLDP), the first nationally representative comparative study of multiracial congregations across the United States that examines race and religious leadership. Finally, Little has been featured on multiple media outlets, including NPRs All Things Considered. And she is co-host of The Elusive Dream Podcast.  

Acting Treasurer

James Cavendish | University of South Florida

James C. Cavendish (Ph.D., 1997, University of Notre Dame) is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida. His research has been largely motivated by his interests in the sociology of religion, social movements, social inqualities, and race and ethnicity. Earlier in his career, he explored the intersection of religion and social movements in several specific cases: the influence of Christian base communities in movements for democratization in Latin America; women’s movements within U.S. religious denominations to expand leadership roles for women; and the involvement of U.S. religious congregations in urban renewal projects, anti-drug initiatives, and assistance and resettlement programs for new immigrants. He has also been interested in how minority religious, racial, and ethnic identities have been the objects of prejudice, discrimination, or violence, as seen in his research on hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans in the U.S., or in his study of racial prejudices among U.S. Catholics, a study commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as they implemented new strategies to promote inclusion within the U.S. Catholic Church. Scholarly articles produced from these research projects have been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including Social Problems, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociology of Religion, Review of Religious Research, Social Psychology Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, and American Catholic Studies. Collectively, they have received over 1,100 citations, according to Google Scholar.

In addition to his teaching and research, James has contributed to the department and to the academic profession in a variety of ways. He served as chair of USF's Department of Religious Studies from 2014-2016 and of USF's Department of Sociology from 2016-2020. He has also served as: President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2019-2021); Executive Officer of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2012-2016); Editorial Board Member for the journals Sociology of Religion, Review of Religious Research, and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; and Program Chair and Treasurer for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Association for the Sociology of Religion. James also serves local faith-based communities as a board member of the Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa and as a member of the Social Justice Committee of Sacred Heart Catholic parish in downtown Tampa. 

In 2021, while serving as president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, James delivered a presidential address titled "Religion as a Resource in an Increasingly Polarized Society," which highlights various ways that religious traditions and congregations can, in certain circumstances, work to effectively bridge the divides evident in our current political climate. 

Secretary

Anna Strhan | University of York

Dr. Anna Strhan is Reader in the Department of Sociology. She is a cultural sociologist whose research and teaching interests lie broadly in questions about ethics, meaning, and values in everyday social life. Her research explores the relations between religion, secularism, morality, and the politics of belonging across different social spaces, using qualitative methods.

Strhan has published widely on these themes, including her books Aliens and Strangers? The Struggle for Coherence in the Everyday Lives of Evangelicals (Oxford University Press), The Figure of the Child in Contemporary Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press), her co-authored book Growing Up Godless: Non-Religious Childhoods in Contemporary England (Princeton University Press), and several co-edited volumes, including Where is the Good in the World? Ethical Life between Social Theory and Philosophy (Berghahn) and Religion and the Global City (Bloomsbury). Her research has appeared in popular media outlets such as The Guardian and BBC Radio 4.

Together with Owen Abbott, Strhan co-founded and co-leads the Social Studies of Ethics, Morality, and Values Network. Within the Department, she leads the Culture, Values and Practices Research Cluster, and established and co-directs the Religion & Spirituality in Society & Culture Lab.