Christian Smith Biography and Wiki
Christian Smith born Christian Stephen Smith is an American sociologist, currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Smith’s research focuses primarily on religion in modernity, adolescents and emerging adults, sociological theory, philosophy of science, the science of generosity, American evangelicalism, and culture.
Smith is well known for his contributions to the sociology of religion, particularly his research into adolescent spirituality, as well as for his contributions to sociological theory and his advocacy of critical realism.
10 Quick Facts About Christian Smith
Here is a list are 10 facts
- Name: Christian Stephen Smith
- Age: 64 years old
- Birthday: October 23
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Height: To be Updated
- Nationality: American
- Occupation: Sociologist
- Marital Status: Married
- Salary: To be Updated
- Net worth: $1 million and $5 million
Christian Smith Age
Smith is 64 years old. He was born on October 23, 1960, in the United States. He also celebrates his birthday on October 23rd every year. Moreover, his birth sign is Scorpio.
Christian Smith Height and Weight
Christian stands at an average height. He appears to be quite tall in stature if his photos, relative to his surroundings, are anything to go by. However, details regarding his actual height and other body measurements are currently not publicly available. We will update this section when the information is available.
Christian Smith Early Life and Education
He attended Wheaton College (1978–1979) and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Gordon College in 1983. Smith earned his Master of Arts (1987) and Doctor of Philosophy (1990) degrees from Harvard University, where he also spent a year studying theology at Harvard Divinity School.
Smith began his academic career as an instructor, and then assistant professor at Gordon College. In 1994 he joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was an assistant professor, full professor, and then Stuart Chapin Professor of Sociology.
He remained at North Carolina for 12 years before moving to Notre Dame as the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society.
He is also a Faculty Fellow of the Kroc Institute for Peace Studies. Smith has been awarded more than $20 million worth of research grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Lilly Endowment Inc., the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, and other foundations and institutes.
Rise To Fame
Stephen Smith is an American sociologist, currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Smith’s research focuses primarily on religion in modernity, adolescents and emerging adults, sociological theory, philosophy of science, the science of generosity, American evangelicalism, and culture.
Christian Smith Family, Parents, and Siblings
Smith was born and raised by his parents in the United States. Our efforts to find out more about his family came to no avail as no such information is publicly available. Thus, the identity of Christian’s parents is still unclear. It is also not known if she has any siblings. We will update this section once this information is available.
Christian Smith Dating, Wife, and Children
Christian has not gone public with his relationship, it is not publicly known whether he is married or in a relationship. His partner’s information will be updated as soon as the information is available.
Christian Smith Salary
Details about his salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much he makes will be updated as soon as it is available.
Christian Smith Net Worth
Smith has an estimated Net Worth of between $1 million and $5 million. This includes his Assets, Money, and Income. His primary source of income is his career as a sociologist Through his various income sources, Christian has accumulated good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.
Christian Smith Measurements and Facts
Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Smith
Christian Smith Bio and Wiki
- Full Name: Christian Stephen Smith
- Popular As: Christian Smith
- Gender: Male
- Occupation / Profession: Sociologist
- Nationality: American
- Race / Ethnicity: White
- Religion: Not Available
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
Christian Smith Birthday
- Age / How Old?: 64 years old
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Date of Birth: October 23, 1960
- Place of Birth: United States
- Birthday: October 23
Christian Smith Body Measurements
- Body Measurements: To be Updated
- Height / How Tall?: To be Updated
- Weight: To be Updated
- Eye Color: Dark Brown
- Hair Color: Black
- Shoe Size: To be Updated
Christian Smith Family and Relationship
- Father (Dad): Not Available
- Mother: Not Available
- Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Not Available
- Marital Status: Not Available
- Dating/Girlfriend: Not Available
- Children: Not Available
Christian Smith Networth and Salary
- Net Worth: $1 million and $5 million
- Salary: Under review
- Source of Income: Sociologist
Christian Smith Career
Smith is a leading American theorist of the philosophy of critical realism and the social theory of personalism. His larger theoretical agenda has been to move personhood, morality, motivated action, culture, and identity to the center of sociological theorizing generally and the sociology of religion specifically.
Smith’s critical realist personalism requires social science to revise its dominant approaches to causation, social ontology, and explanation. Recent personalist works by Smith include What is a Person? and To Flourish or Destruct.
Earlier in his career, Smith’s work on social movements emphasized not only structural political opportunities but also personal moral motivations for participation in social movement activism.
In his work on American Evangelicals, Smith developed a subcultural identity theory of religious persistence and strength in the modern world and highlighted the massive cultural complexities within conservative Protestantism.
His book, The Secular Revolution, emphasized the centrality of culture, agency, and moral vision by religiously hostile actors in the secularization of American public life. Moral, Believing Animals’ anthropology underscored the morally-oriented, narratological, and epistemically anti-foundationalist condition of human personhood.
Smith’s more recent work on the religious and spiritual lives of U.S. adolescents–in his books, Soul Searching, Souls in Transition, Youth Catholic America, and Lost in Transition–emphasizes the interplay of broad cultural influences, family socialization, and religious motivations in forming the spiritual and life experiences and outcomes of American youth.
Christian Smith Accolades
Smith received the Notre Dame Graduate Student Union’s Graduate Student Mentoring Award for 2020-2021. The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion granted Smith its Distinguished Book Award, 2018, for his 2017 book, Religion: What it Is, How it Works, and Why it Matters (Princeton).
In 2012, the American Sociological Association section on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity awarded Smith with the Distinguished Career Award.
He was awarded the Lilly Fellows Program Distinguished Book Award in 2011 for his 2009 book, co-authored with Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. He was also awarded Christianity Today’s 2010 Distinguished Book Award for the same book, Souls in Transition. He previously won Christianity Today’s 2005 Distinguished Book Award for his 2005 book, co-authored with Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.
In December, Choice Magazine selected What Is a Person? as one of its Top 25 (out of 7000 reviewed) Outstanding Academic Titles of 2011. The book also received the “Cheryl Frank Memorial Prize for 2010,” from the International Association for Critical Realism. Smith received for the same book the 2011 Honorable Mention Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence from American Publisher’s, Philosophy category.
In 2007, Smith’s alma mater, Gordon College, presented him with the “Alumnus of the Year” award in “recognition of his many accomplishments and work as one of the leading Christian sociologists in the country.”
Michael Emerson and Smith’s Divided by Faith was the winner of the “2001 Outstanding Book Award” from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
Smith was awarded the “Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring, 1995-96” by the Graduate Student Association, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This was followed in 2002 by an “Excellence in Mentoring Award, 2001-2002” by the Graduate Student Association, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Smith was co-author with Mark Regnerus on the 1999 “Outstanding Article Award”, granted by the American Sociological Association Section on the Sociology of Religion, for “Selective Deprivatization Among American Religious Traditions: The Reversal of the Great Reversal”, published in Social Forces.
Christian Smith Moralistic therapeutic deism
In his 2005 book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers co-written with Melinda Lundquist Denton, he introduced the term moralistic therapeutic deism (abbreviated MTD) to describe the common religious beliefs exhibited by American youth in a survey. It has also been referred to as egonovism. The book summarized the “National Study of Youth and Religion”, privately funded by the Lilly Endowment.
They label moralistic therapeutic deism as a religion with the following traits:
A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.
Christian Smith Critical realism
Critical realism (CR) is, in Smith’s view, the most promising general approach to social science for best framing our research and theory. CR, as a philosophy of (social) science (not a sociological theory per se), offers the best alternative to the problems and limits presented by positivist empiricism, hermeneutical interpretivism, strong social constructionism, and postmodernist deconstruction. It is the meta-theoretical direction in which American sociology needs to move
Smith’s work in CR involves What is a Person? Rethinking Humanity, Social Life, and the Moral Good from the Person Up (Chicago 2010) (with Moral, Believing Animals (OUP 2003) forming a pre-CR theoretical backdrop); To Flourish or Destruct: A Personalist Theory of Human Goods, Motivations, Failure, and Evil (Chicago 2014), and Religion: What it Is, How it Works, and Why it Matters (Princeton 2017).
Final Thoughts
Smith is a role model for many people, and his work has inspired others to make a difference in the world. He is a true inspiration, and his legacy will continue to touch the lives of many for years to come.
Christian Smith Contacts
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