Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

SSSR was founded at Harvard University in 1949 as the Committee for the Social Scientific Study of Religion
Abbreviation	SSSR
Formation	1949;76 years ago (1949)
Type	Learned society
President	Ruth Braunstein
Website	sssreligion.org
Formerly called	Committee for the Social Scientific Study of Religion Committee for the Scientific Study of Religion

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (was founded at Harvard University in 1949) was formed to advance research in the social scientific perspective on religious institutions and experiences. ^{[1] [2]} The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion is published by the society to provide a forum for empirical papers in the topic area. On the society's home page, it is clear that they promote interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration - with organizations etc. - carried out by prominent members. ^{[3] [4]} (See Hoesly and nondenominationals, for example, as gleaned from the references ^[5] — one of Hoesly's texts: “‘Need a Minister? [...]" ^[6] ).

Presidents

• 1954–1955: Prentiss Pemberton ^[7]
• 1955–1956: Horace Kallen ^[8]
• Richard McCann ^[9]
• 1959: James Luther Adams ^[10]
• 1961: Horace Kallen ^[11]
• 1962–1963: Horace L. Friess ^[12]
• 1966–1967: Peter L. Berger ^[13]
• 1967–1968: Charles Y. Glock ^[14]
• 1970–1971: Joseph H. Fichter ^[15]
• c. 1971 – c. 1973: James E. Dittes ^[16]
• 1978–1979: William V. D'Antonio ^[17]
• 1980–1981: Guy Benton Johnson ^[18]
• 1983–1984: Jeffrey K. Hadden ^[19]
• 1985: Phillip E. Hammond ^[20]
• 1988–1989: Meredith B. McGuire ^[21]
• Donald Eric Capps
• 1993: Eileen Barker ^[22]
• 1996–1997: Wade Clark Roof ^[23]
• 1998–1999: Nicholas Jay Demerath III ^[24]
• 2000-2001: Robert Wuthnow
• Michele Dillon
• 2009: Mark Chaves ^[25]
• 2011: James A. Beckford ^[26]
• 2012: Rhys H. Williams ^[27]
• 2014: James T. Richardson ^[28]
• 2014–2015: Fenggang Yang ^[29]
• 2018: Korie Little Edwards ^[30]
• 2019: Elaine Howard Ecklund ^{[31] [32]}
• 2020: Laura Olson ^{[33] [34]}
• 2021: Prema Kurien ^[35]
• 2022: R. Khari Brown ^[36]
• 2023: Kraig Beyerlein
• 2024: Gerardo Martí

See also

• Religion portal

• American Academy of Religion
• Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry
• Association for the Sociology of Religion
• Canadian Society for the Study of Religion
• Psychology of religion
• Religious Research Association
• Religious studies
• Sociology of religion

References

Footnotes

1. Glock 2000, p. 423; Nelsen 1998b.
2. "History". Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
3. "History". Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
4. "Program" (PDF). Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
5. "Program" (PDF). Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
6. "Research Article". Secularism and Nonreligion. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
7. Glock 1998c, p. 356.
8. Glock 1998b.
9. Glock 2000, p. 425.
10. Moberg 2000, p. 405; Newman 1974, p. 142.
11. Moberg 2000, p. 420.
12. Glock 1998a.
13. Karlenzig 1998, p. 52.
14. Mauss 1998.
15. Morris 1998.
16. Dittes 2000, p. 427; Hood 1998.
17. Davidson 1998, p. 125.
18. Shibley 1998b, p. 251.
19. Bromley 1998, p. 221.
20. Shibley 1998a.
21. Nelsen 1998a, p. 291.
22. Barker 1995, p. 287.
23. McKinney 1998, p. 439.
24. Newman 1998.
25. Chaves, Mark (March 2010). "SSSR Presidential Address Rain Dances in the Dry Season: Overcoming the Religious Congruence Fallacy" . Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 49 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01489.x . Retrieved 23 April 2023.
26. Beckford, James A. (March 2012). "SSSR Presidential Address Public Religions and the Postsecular: Critical Reflections". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 51 (1): 1–19. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01625.x . Retrieved 23 April 2023.
27. Williams, Rhys H. (June 2013). "Civil Religion and the Cultural Politics of National Identity in Obama's America: PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS" . Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 52 (2): 239–257. doi:10.1111/jssr.12032 . Retrieved 23 April 2023.
28. Richardson, James T. (March 2015). "Managing Religion and the Judicialization of Religious Freedom: MANAGING RELIGION AND THE JUDICIALIZATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM" . Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 54 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1111/jssr.12172 . Retrieved 23 April 2023.
29. "Fenggang Yang". West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
30. Edwards 2019.
31. McCaig, Amy (October 23, 2018). "Rice's Ecklund Elected President of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion". Houston, Texas: Rice University. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
32. Ecklund, Elaine Howard (March 2020). "Diversifying the Social Scientific Study of Religion: The Next 70 Years" . Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 59 (1): 5–17. doi:10.1111/jssr.12647. ISSN   0021-8294. S2CID   216344015 . Retrieved 23 April 2023.
33. "Offices & Committees". Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
34. Parrish, Frances (October 17, 2018). "Clemson Political Science Professor Elected President of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion" (Press release). Clemson, South Carolina: Clemson University. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
35. Kurien, Prema (March 2022). "2021 SSSR Presidential Address: Religion as Social Location—Global and Comparative Perspectives" . Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 61 (1): 5–20. doi:10.1111/jssr.12782. ISSN   0021-8294 . Retrieved 23 April 2023.
36. "Professor Brown elected president of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion". Sociology. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

Bibliography

• Barker, Eileen (1995). "The Scientific Study of Religion? You Must Be Joking!". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 34 (3): 287–310. doi:10.2307/1386880. ISSN   1468-5906. JSTOR   1386880.
• Bromley, David G. (1998). "Hadden, Jeffrey K.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 221–222. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Davidson, James D. (1998). D'Antonio, William V. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Dittes, James E. (2000). "Recollections of the Adolescence and Young Adulthood of the SSSR". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 39 (4): 427–429. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2000.tb00005.x. ISSN   1468-5906. JSTOR   1388076.
• Edwards, Korie L. (2019). "Presidential Address: Religion and Power – A Return to the Roots of Social Scientific Scholarship". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 58 (1): 5–19. doi:10.1111/jssr.12583. ISSN   1468-5906. S2CID   149457425.
• Glock, Charles Y. (1998a). "Friess, Horace L.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. p. 193. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
•  ———  (1998b). "Kallen, Horace Meyer". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
•  ———  (1998c). "Pemberton, Prentiss L.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
•  ———  (2000). "Remembrances of Things Past: SSSR's Formative Years". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 39 (4): 423–426. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2000.tb00004.x. ISSN   1468-5906. JSTOR   1388075.
• Hood, Ralph W. Jr. (1998). "Dittes, James E.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. p. 140. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Karlenzig, Bruce (1998). "Berger, Peter L.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 52–54. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Mauss, Armand L. (1998). "Glock, Charles Young". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 210ff. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• McKinney, William (1998). "Roof, Wade Clark". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 439–440. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Moberg, David O. (2000). "Refining the Nature and Purpose of Research on Religion: Competing Goals in the Early Years (1944–1973) of the RRA and SSSR". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 39 (4): 401–421. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2000.tb00003.x. ISSN   1468-5906. JSTOR   1388074.
• Morris, Loretta M. (1998). "Fichter, Joseph Henry". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Nelsen, Hart M. (1998a). "McGuire, Meredith B.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 291–292. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
•  ———  (1998b). "Society for the Scientific Study of Religion". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. p. 482. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Newman, William M. (1974). "The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion: The Development of an Academic Society". Review of Religious Research. 15 (3): 137–151. doi:10.2307/3510108. ISSN   0034-673X. JSTOR   3510108.
•  ———  (1998). "Demerath, Nicholas Jay, III". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. p. 133ff. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
• Shibley, Mark A. (1998a). "Hammond, Phillip E.". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.
•  ———  (1998b). "Johnson, Guy Benton". In Swatos, William H. Jr. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 251–252. ISBN   978-0-7619-8956-1 . Retrieved August 5, 2020.

Further reading

• D'Antonio, William V. (2000). "SSSR: The Stabilizing Years, 1970–1976". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 39 (4): 431–432. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2000.tb00006.x. ISSN   1468-5906. JSTOR   1388077.
• Hadden, Jeffrey K. (1974). "A Brief Social History of the Religious Research Association". Review of Religious Research. 15 (3): 128–136. doi:10.2307/3510107. ISSN   0034-673X. JSTOR   3510107.

External links

• Official website