Research

The research at the core of this project has three components:

Working Papers

This first stage of our research involves writing three background papers to think about how what we are calling the spiritual infrastructure - the structures, institutions and practices through which people in the United States find meaning  - is changing in the United States. Feedback on these papers may be sent to Amy Lawton via this link.

• Lawton, Amy; Akova, Feyza (2026). "Investigating and Re-Imagining Contemporary Religious Leadership: A Working Paper." Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future Project, Bryn Mawr College.
• "Religious Change in the Context of Modernity: Innovation, Restoration, and Decline." Expected August 2026
• "Closing Sacred Spaces." Expected September 2026

Original Local Research

During the 2026-27 academic year we are conducting survey, interview and ethnographic research to explore religious changes in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. The survey is structured to provide insight into the general population and asks 1,000 respondents in each city about their religious and spiritual lives over the past three years. The interviews and ethnographic research are designed to let us explore city-specific themes in depth. We will share our findings in academic and public settings.

Edited Volume

We have gathered a team of scholars to bring together synthetic research in an edited volume currently under contract with New York University Press.

The research team includes Feyza Akova, Kraig Beyerlein, Wendy Cadge, Penny Edgell, Amy Lawton, Diane Winston, Elena van Stee, Dawson Vosburg, and Bob Wuthnow.