Biography

Professor Chaves specializes in the sociology of religion. Most of his research is on the social organization of religion in the United States. Among other projects, he directs the National Congregations Study (NCS), a wide-ranging survey, conducted in 1998 and again in 2006-07, of a nationally representative sample of religious congregations. NCS results have helped us to better understand many aspects of congregational life in the United States. Professor Chaves is the author of Congregations in America (Harvard, 2004), Ordaining Women: Culture and Conflict in Religious Organizations (Harvard 1997), and many articles. His latest book, Continuity and Change in American Religion, 1972-2008, is forthcoming from Princeton University Press.

Professor Chaves teaches sociology of religion at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also teaches a course, designed specifically for Divinity School students, on the social organization of American religion. This course is meant to be informative and useful to M.Div. students as well as M.T.S., Th.D, and other students on more academic tracks. The course focuses on religion's formal and informal social organization. It addresses questions such as: How is religion organized? Why are there variations in religious social organization? What are the consequences of those variations for people, religions, and societies? How do social relations infuse religion? How does social context shape it?

Please see the Department of Sociology for more information about his teaching and research.

Curriculum Vitae

Download CV:

cv-chaves.pdf