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

  • Adapting Closed Churches

    What happens to a church that closes? This is a question I’ve researched for a few years in the context of closed Catholic parishes, with funding support from the Louisville Institute. A new article from CityLab brings attention to one… Continue reading

  • “_American Parishes_ is a specialized publication of the best kind…”

    These are the words that Kevin J. Christiano uses to describe American Parishes: Remaking Local Catholicism, a book I edited with Gary Alder and Brian Starks (2019, Fordham University Press). Christiano brings the reader in with the following personalized account… Continue reading

  • Empty Pews

    Invited lectures necessarily get creative during this time! Thanks to the Community of Saint Peter in Cleveland, Ohio, for welcoming me – virtually – into their homes to deliver a talk entitled “Empty Pews” about the religiously non-affiliated. This was… Continue reading

    Empty Pews

  • Election to ASR Council

    I am honored to receive word of my election to Council for the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). This is a great organization with a supportive network of scholars in the sociology of religion and related fields. Its… Continue reading

  • Who’s Leaving Catholicism?

    Who’s leaving Catholicism? This was one of the driving questions behind a documentary project of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for which I was invited to consult. Who leaves? Half of American Catholics do, at some point… Continue reading

  • Guest appearance on Iowa Catholic Radio

    I enjoyed my conversation with Iowa Catholic Radio’s latest episode of “Straight Talk” hosted by Jeanne Wells, during which we talked about Catholics in and out of the church. Social distancing from the church is not a new phenomenon! Listen… Continue reading

  • Calm and Fear

    In this extraordinary time, we recognize just how connected we are to one another. Thanks to WBIR for the invitation to speak to concerns raised by Covid-19 and the collective network of support its response requires. Grateful to join a… Continue reading

  • The mark of a movement

    The trial and conviction of Harvey Weinstein signals an important outcome of global efforts to address sexual harassment in the workplace. Thanks to WBIR for the invitation to talk through what this conviction says about social movements and their promise… Continue reading

  • Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture

    The Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture held last June in Indianapolis, IN are now available online. They include a written version of an invited panel I participated in on the topic of religion and… Continue reading

  • Advance online publication of my 2019 H. Paul Douglass Lecture, “I Can’t Keep Quiet”

    The Review of Religious Research journal has published an advance online version of my 2019 H. Paul Douglass Lecture, “I Can’t Keep Quiet: Engaging with Scholarly Research on Religion.” I was honored to deliver this address to the annual meeting… Continue reading

engaging A Sociological Perspective

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