Michael Emerson (Ph.D., Sociology, 1991, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) teaches courses in race and ethnic relations, religion, urban sociology, poverty and justice, and research methods. Emerson has focused most closely on the role of race in shaping social action in the United States, recently by focusing on health, residential segregation, and on the institution of religion. Considered one of the leading scholars on race and religion, his work in this area began with Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford University Press, 2000), which was named the 2001 Distinguished Book of the Year by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. In addition to several other books on the topic, in 2006, People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States was published by Princeton University Press. This award-winning book serves as a seminal work on multiracial religious congregations. Emerson currently is directing the Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity (PS-ARE). Funded by the Lilly Endowment, this study is following the same 2600 people over the course of their lives. The first round of interviews was completed in 2006, and the second wave is planned for 2011. With oversamples of African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos and over two hundred questions on religion, this study provides one of the nation's richest data sets for understanding religious life within racial and ethnic communities. Along with Elaine Howard Ecklund, Emerson is conducting a national study immigration religion and civic life, funded by the Russell Sage Foundation. This two year project will help us understand what immigrants offer the United States in terms of public life, volunteering, and other forms of civic life, and how their religions help motivate their civic involvement. Michael Emerson is co-director of the Institute for Urban Research.

Books and other resources by Dr. Michael Emerson