Contexts

Features

Religion and Spirituality Among Scientists

Scientists aren't as anti-religion as the conventional wisdom leads us to believe—a surprising number of believers teach at the nation's top academic institutions, but they approach religion and spirituality differently than the general public.

American Scholars Return to Studying Religion

Strong evidence indicates a new story needs to be told about religion in the academy, one that recognizes the resilience of the study of the sacred in higher education.

Dying for a Cause—alone?

Self-immolation poses the theoretical puzzle of why it makes sense to die without inflicting any tangible cost on the opponent.

Rethinking Crime and Immigration

Immigration tracks the reduction in crime in the United States since the 1990s. It thus pays to reconsider the role of immigration in crime, cities, culture and societal change.

Sociologists on the Colorblind Question

Sociologists are helping question the colorblind ideology—treating people as individuals rather than members of the racial groups to which they belong—and its impacts on American law and culture.

The Social Structure of Hugo Chávez

Focusing on Hugo Chávez the man seriously impedes our understanding of the social changes unfolding in Venezuela and the politics that grow out of them.