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 five-time marathoner. She served previously 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

  • Lecture at St. Jerome’s | Waterloo, Canada

    Thanks to St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Canada, for hosting me for the Spring 2024 Lecture in the Catholic Experience. I especially appreciated the thoughtful questions, personal stories, and rich conversations after delivering my talk, “Her [and His] Place in… Continue reading

  • Profile in National Catholic Reporter

    Thanks to Heidi Schlumpf and the National Catholic Reporter for inviting this conversation about the work I’ve done through sociology to understand different perspectives across the Catholic landscape. It’s shared, imperfect, and unfinished. “Catholics not as polarized as often portrayed,… Continue reading

  • Research Coverage in Scientific American

    Scientific American recently covered research that colleagues and I conducted on everyday Americans’ abortion attitudes, with special attention to new article in Science Advances I co-authored with Kendra Hutchens and Sarah Cowan. This piece explores perceptions Americans hold of who… Continue reading

  • New Article in Science Advances on the “Abortion Imaginary”

    Science Advances has published a piece I authored in collaboration with Kendra Hutchens and Sarah Cowan on how Americans imagine who gets abortions and why. We call these perceptions part of an “abortion imaginary,” showing how those perceptions cut across… Continue reading

  • Social Science and Catholicism and Me

    I’m re-reading my 2021 contribution to “Reclaiming the Piazza III: Communicating Catholic Culture” (edited by Ronnie Convery, Leonardo Franchi, and Jack Valero) from a new vantage point, anticipating my Synod consultor appointment. I’ve observed with intrigue, gratitude, curiosity, and occasional… Continue reading

  • Feature Article in Our Sunday Visitor

    Maria Wiering from Our Sunday Visitor posed great questions related to my newly announced role as Consultor to the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod. Her feature article in OSV (republished widely for OSV News) captures much about my work… Continue reading

  • Appointment by Pope Francis as consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod

    I’m honored to accept an invitation to serve the global Catholic Church as consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod. The Synod on Synodality (2021-2024) was initiated by Pope Francis as an intentional period of local and global listening,… Continue reading

  • Insights from the National Study of Catholic Priests

    The Catholic Project has released a second report from the National Study of Catholic Priests — a project for which I led a team in conducting more than one hundred in-depth interviews with religious and diocesan priests across the United… Continue reading

    Insights from the National Study of Catholic Priests

  • Accepting the RRA Outstanding Applied Research Award

    While attending the annual meetings of the Religious Research Association (RRA) and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR), I was honored to accept the inaugural Outstanding Applied Research Award “In recognition of your dedication to advancing knowledge through… Continue reading

  • Affiliated Scholar, USC’s Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies

    The Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies (IACS) at the University of Southern California has for years supported robust scholarship, cross-cutting dialogue, and creative collaboration “to ensure that the rich and evolving tradition of Catholic thinking will thrive among future generations… Continue reading

engaging A Sociological Perspective

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