Rhys H. Williams Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology Director, McNamara Center for the Social Study of Religion Ph.D., Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1988 M.A., Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1985 B.A., Sociology/Political Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1979 Coffey Hall 423 773.508.3459 rwilliams7@luc.edu Curriculum Vitae

Research Areas:
Professor Williams arrived at Loyola in 2009 from the University of Cincinnati, where he had been professor and department head since 2001.  From 1989 to 2001 he taught in the Sociology Department at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.  His research has focused on the intersection of politics, religion, and social movements in American culture.  He has studied the involvement of religious groups in urban politics, as well as the role of religion in such varied social movements as the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, the Promise Keepers, and the Father's Rights Movement.

Professor Williams has two current research projects in progress.  One is a study of young adults' involvement with religious organizations, and the development of personal, social, and religious identity.  He has been comparing young adult groups in white and black churches, and the involvement of second generation Muslim and Hindu immigrants in their religious institutions.  The second is an examination of the language and attitudes towards immigration and immigrants in contemporary American politics.

Along with research and teaching, Professor Williams was co-editor of the journal Social Problems from 1996-99 and the editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion from 2003-08.  He was President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in 2010 and is currently President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Recent and select publications:
Forthcoming Timberlake, Jeffery M. and Rhys H. Williams. “Stereotypes of Immigrants from Four Global Regions.”  Social Science Quarterly
(expected 2012).

2011  Williams, Rhys H. “Creating an American Islam: Thoughts on Religion, Identity, and Place.”  Sociology of Religion (Summer) 72 (2): 127-153.

2011  Williams, Rhys H. “American National Identity, the Rise of the Modern City, and the Birth of Protestant Fundamentalism.” Pp. 77-98 in The Fundamentalist City? Religiosity and the Remaking of Urban Space, Nezar Al-Sayyd and Mejgan Massoumi, eds. (Routledge).

2009  Williams, Rhys H. “Politicized Evangelicalism and Secular Elites: Creating a ‘Moral Other.’” Pp. 105-127 in Evangelicals and American Democracy, Volume II: Religion and Politics, Steven Brint and Jean Reith Schroedel, eds. (Russell Sage Foundation).

2009  Williams, Rhys H. “Transnational Religion and the Shaping of Politics, Ethnicity, and Culture,” Review Essay, Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews (March) 38 (2): 129-133.

2007  Williams, Rhys H. and Gira Vashi “Hijab and American Muslim Women: Creating the Space for Autonomous Selves.” Sociology of Religion (Autumn) 68 (3): 269-287.

2007  Williams, Rhys H. “The Languages of the Public Sphere: Religious Pluralism, Institutional Logics, and Civil Society.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences (July) 612: 42-61.

2007  Nepstad, Sharon Erickson and Rhys H. Williams. “Religion in Rebellion, Resistance, and Social Change.” Pp. 419-37 in The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, James A. Beckford and N.J. Demerath III, eds. (Sage Publications).

2007  Williams, Rhys H. “Liberalism, Religion, and the Dilemma of ‘Immigrant Rights’ in American Political Culture.” Pp. 16-32 in Religion and Social Justice for Immigrants, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, ed. (Rutgers University Press).