Tricia C. Bruce, PhD

Sociologist. Author. Researcher. Speaker.

Tricia C. Bruce, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, a 2025-2026 Affiliate of the Center for the Study of Religion & Society at the University of Notre Dame, President-Elect of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and a six-time marathoner. She has served as President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, a papal-appointed consultor to the Synod on Synodality, and a tenured professor. She is the author of numerous award-winning books, articles, and reports in the sociology of religion and U.S. Catholicism.

Happenings

  • My new classroom

    Today marks the start of a new semester, but I’m not standing in front of the classroom…not this one, at least. After nearly a dozen years as a tenured professor at a small liberal arts college, I have resigned my… Continue reading

  • Girl Talk, Inc. Knoxville

    Thanks to Girl Talk, Inc. Knoxville for this kind shoutout, and for their powerful advocacy for young women! Proud to be joining their board of directors in 2019, in union with their mission of “empower[ing] girls to become their best… Continue reading

  • “Doesn’t God Dwell Here Anymore?”

    I recently traveled to Rome to join a gathering of representatives from several countries contemplating the question of what happens to decommissioned – i.e. closed – Catholic churches. Prompted by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, the international and multi-lingual… Continue reading

  • Call for Papers: Catholicism and Global Challenges

    Consider submitting a paper for inclusion in a session I am co-convening at the July 2019 meeting of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (Barcelona, Spain). Deadline December 16. Catholicism and Global Challenges (“Le catholicisme et les défis… Continue reading

  • Catholicism and Social Justice: A Panel on Texas Public Radio

    Thanks to Texas Public Radio for the invitation to participate in a panel discussion today on their live call-in show, “The Source.” The topic? Catholicism and social justice. “From immigration to human rights to race-motivated hate, how are religiously-affiliated people… Continue reading

  • Discussion at Saint John XXIII Parish, Knoxville

    Thanks to Saint John XXIII Parish and Catholic Center at the University of Tennessee Knoxville for inviting me to lead a discussion on polarization in the US Catholic Church. Issues raised in the book I coedited with Mary Ellen Konieczny… Continue reading

  • The Sociology of Fear

    Around Halloween time, haunted houses and spoofs on the paranormal abound. Drawing from Chapman University’s 2018 Survey of American Fears, my interview with WBIR suggests that our fears are as much sociological as they are psychological.   Continue reading

  • Explaining Hate Crimes (My Interview with WBIR)

    In the wake of the tragic shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, Knoxville’s WBIR invited me in-studio to discuss religious diversity in the US and the sociology behind hate crimes. View the segment here. Continue reading

  • SSSR Author-Meets-Critics

    Sociologists and other scholars of religion convened in Las Vegas for the 2018 meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR). Among the sessions was an author-meets-critics session for my book, Parish and Place: Making Room for… Continue reading

    SSSR Author-Meets-Critics

  • New Affiliation with the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame

    I am excited to announce my new affiliation with the University of Notre Dame’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society, which is “dedicated to advancing social scientific understanding of religion in society through scholarly research, training, and publications.”… Continue reading

    New Affiliation with the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame

engaging A Sociological Perspective

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