Faculty | SIU

Darren Sherkat received his PhD in sociology from Duke University in 1991, and earned a BA in Sociology from the University of Tulsa. He is author of 2 books, an edited volume, over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and dozens of book chapters and book reviews. Before coming to SIU in 2001, he was an Associate Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. His work has appeared in many of the most prestigious journals in sociology, including American Sociological Review, Social Forces, The Sociological Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Social Science Research, and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 

Most of his work focuses on issues in the Sociology of Religion, including religion and politics, religion and stratification, and religion and sexuality. Most of his work is quantitative. His book, Changing Faith: The Dynamics and Consequences of Americans' Shifting Religious Identities was published on NYU Press. His recent articles explore the impact of religion on scientific literacy (in Social Science Quarterly) and support for science (in Politics and Religion), the measurement of religious identification and identities (in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion), the influence of religion on anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments (in Social Science Quarterly), how religion and cognitive sophistication influenced voting for Donald Trump (in Social Science Quarterly), and ethnic differences in the effects of religion on verbal ability (in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion). He is currently working on research investigating the predictors of Christian nationalism in the United States, and on a series of papers investigating the reciprocal influences between religious and political identities. He is also working on a book on the rise of anti-intellectualism in the Republican Party.