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COUNCIL MEMBERS
Executive Council
President
Korie L. Little | The Ohio State University
Dr. Korie L. Little is University Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Sociology for the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University. Little is a leading scholar of race, religion, and leadership in the United States. She has written several books and articles on multiracial religious organizations, including The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches (author, Oxford University Press) and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (co-author, New York University Press). Little’s recent scholarship focuses on leadership. Her award-winning book, Smart Suits, Tattered Boots: Black Ministers Mobilizing the Black Church in the Twenty-First Century (co-author, New York University Press), examines black religious leaders’ engagement in the 2012 election to understand their civic and political participation and mobilization in today’s America. Her most recent book, Estranged Pioneers: Race, Faith and Leadership, recognized by Christianity Today as one of their “picks for the books most likely to shape evangelical life, thought, and culture,” examines how leaders of color navigate and experience heading racially diverse congregations (co-author, Oxford University Press). Little is also Editor-in-Chief for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and Past President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, an international, interdisciplinary association (www.sssrweb.org). She has directed or co-directed several funded research projects totaling nearly 1.8 million grant dollars. This includes the Religious Leadership and Diversity Project (RLDP), the first nationally representative comparative study of multiracial congregations across the United States that examines race and religious leadership. Finally, Little has been featured on multiple media outlets, including NPRs All Things Considered. And she is co-host of The Elusive Dream Podcast.
Immediate Past-President Jerry Park | Baylor University Dr. Jerry Park is an associate professor of sociology and an affiliate fellow of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a psychology major and sociology minor, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology at the University of Notre Dame. His research interests include the sociological study of religion, race, identity, culture and civic participation. Recent publications have covered topics such as racializing religious measures, religion and inequality attitudes, and Asian-American religiosity. Currently he is involved in major data collection efforts that oversample racial and religious minorities, and his research focuses on minority-serving congregations, racial and religious minorities’ views on white Christian nationalism, Asian American and Korean American identities, perceived racial and religious group threats including anti-Asian discrimination, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. His undergraduate teaching is in the sociology of racial and ethnic inequalities, migration, and at the graduate level, he teaches a seminar on the sociology of culture and religion, and the sociology of race, gender, and religion. He is president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2025-2026).
President Elect Conrad Hackett | Pew Research Center Conrad Hackett (Ph.D., Princeton University, 2008) is a Senior Demographer and Associate Director of Research at Pew Research Center. Conrad heads a Center team investigating global religious change. He has led many studies, including How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020, The Future of World Religions, The Gender Gap in Religion Around the World, Europe's Growing Muslim Population, and Religion's Relationship to Happiness, Civic Engagement and Health Around the World. Conrad has lectured around the world about global religious change. He is an author of demographic, descriptive, methodological, and theoretical articles that have been published in a wide range of academic journals. Prizes for his research have been awarded by the European Association for Population Studies, the Population Association of America, and the religion section of the American Sociological Association. For the Association for the Sociology of Religion, Conrad previously served as a council member and is the current President-Elect. He also has served in leadership roles for other professional associations, including the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, the International Sociological Association religion section (RC22), the Religious Research Association, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the American Sociological Association religion section. Additionally, he has served on the editorial boards of Sociology of Religion, Review of Religious Research, and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Conrad founded a Slack community connecting more than 1,000 social scientists studying religion. He promotes religion research on social media sites and campaigns for wider adoption of open science practices in the study of religion. |
Treasurer James Cavendish | University of South Florida James C. Cavendish (Ph.D., 1997, University of Notre Dame) is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida. His research has been largely motivated by his interests in the sociology of religion, social movements, social inqualities, and race and ethnicity. Earlier in his career, he explored the intersection of religion and social movements in several specific cases: the influence of Christian base communities in movements for democratization in Latin America; women’s movements within U.S. religious denominations to expand leadership roles for women; and the involvement of U.S. religious congregations in urban renewal projects, anti-drug initiatives, and assistance and resettlement programs for new immigrants. He has also been interested in how minority religious, racial, and ethnic identities have been the objects of prejudice, discrimination, or violence, as seen in his research on hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans in the U.S., or in his study of racial prejudices among U.S. Catholics, a study commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as they implemented new strategies to promote inclusion within the U.S. Catholic Church. Scholarly articles produced from these research projects have been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including Social Problems, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociology of Religion, Review of Religious Research, Social Psychology Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, and American Catholic Studies. Collectively, they have received over 1,100 citations, according to Google Scholar. In addition to his teaching and research, James has contributed to the department and to the academic profession in a variety of ways. He served as chair of USF's Department of Religious Studies from 2014-2016 and of USF's Department of Sociology from 2016-2020. He has also served as: President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2019-2021); Executive Officer of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2012-2016); Editorial Board Member for the journals Sociology of Religion, Review of Religious Research, and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; and Program Chair and Treasurer for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Association for the Sociology of Religion. James also serves local faith-based communities as a board member of the Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa and as a member of the Social Justice Committee of Sacred Heart Catholic parish in downtown Tampa. In 2021, while serving as president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, James delivered a presidential address titled "Religion as a Resource in an Increasingly Polarized Society," which highlights various ways that religious traditions and congregations can, in certain circumstances, work to effectively bridge the divides evident in our current political climate.
Secretary Anna Strhan | University of York Dr. Anna Strhan is Reader in the Department of Sociology. She is a cultural sociologist whose research and teaching interests lie broadly in questions about ethics, meaning, and values in everyday social life. Her research explores the relations between religion, secularism, morality, and the politics of belonging across different social spaces, using qualitative methods. Strhan has published widely on these themes, including her books Aliens and Strangers? The Struggle for Coherence in the Everyday Lives of Evangelicals (Oxford University Press), The Figure of the Child in Contemporary Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press), her co-authored book Growing Up Godless: Non-Religious Childhoods in Contemporary England (Princeton University Press), and several co-edited volumes, including Where is the Good in the World? Ethical Life between Social Theory and Philosophy (Berghahn) and Religion and the Global City (Bloomsbury). Her research has appeared in popular media outlets such as The Guardian and BBC Radio 4. Together with Owen Abbott, Strhan co-founded and co-leads the Social Studies of Ethics, Morality, and Values Network. Within the Department, she leads the Culture, Values and Practices Research Cluster, and established and co-directs the Religion & Spirituality in Society & Culture Lab.
Chelsea Kindred | CORE Association Management Administrator Chelsea Kindred brings 10 years of nonprofit experience, with a strong background in operations, organizational support, and association management. She has worked closely with mission-driven organizations to strengthen day-to-day operations, support leadership initiatives, and enhance member and stakeholder engagement. With an MBA and extensive experience managing administrative systems, communications, and strategic processes, Chelsea is passionate about helping organizations run efficiently while advancing their mission. In her role as Operations Manager with CORE AMC and Administrator with ASR, Chelsea combines her nonprofit expertise with a practical, solutions-focused approach to support associations and councils in achieving their goals. Her experience in association management has included overseeing operational workflows, coordinating communications, supporting events, and helping organizations build strong foundations for long-term success. Outside of work, Chelsea is a proud mom of two and loves spending quality time with her kids. When she’s not with her family, you can usually find her enjoying a good cup of coffee or fitting in a workout. |
Current Council Members
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