John Lofland (sociologist)

Last updated
John Lofland
Born
John Franklin Lofland

(1936-03-04) March 4, 1936 (age 87)
Academic background
Alma mater
Thesis The World-Savers (1964)
Institutions
Notable works Doomsday Cult (1966)

John Franklin Lofland (born 1936) is an American sociologist best known for his studies of the peace movement and for his first book, Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith , which was based on field work among a group of Unification Church members in California in the 1960s. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion, and one of the first modern sociological studies of a new religious movement. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Lofland was born in Milford, Delaware, and attended Swarthmore College, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a PhD in sociology based on his Unification Church study. Since 1970 he has been a professor in the sociology department at the University of California, Davis, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Sociology. [4]

In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s Lofland did field work among peace demonstrators in the United States and in Europe. He has undertaken administrative roles in several social science associations and contributed as an editor or associate editor to sociological publications. He has also been active in community organizations in Davis, California. [4]

Lofland's wife Lyn attended Stanford University and Antioch College, then completed a master's degree at the University of Michigan, followed by a doctorate at the University of California, San Francisco. She also taught at UC Davis. Lyn Lofland died on September 7, 2022. [5] [6]

Writings

[7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations, Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 ISBN   978-0275987176, p. 180
  2. Exploring New Religions, Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 ISBN   978-0826459596 p. 1
  3. Conversion Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine , Unification Church Archived 2012-01-13 at the Wayback Machine , Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
  4. 1 2 CV, University of California, Davis, all information from here is from this source.
  5. "Lyn H. Lofland". Davis Enterprise. September 22, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  6. "Lyn Lofland in Memoriam". University of California, Davis Department of Sociology. 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  7. "Davis History Publications (Revised 6/16) — Researching Davis History". www.davishistoryresearch.org. Retrieved 2020-05-15.