Regnerus, Mark

(Mark D. Regnerus)

PERSONAL:

Married; wife's name Deeann; children: two. Education: Trinity Christian College, B.A. (with high honors), 1993; University of North Carolina, M.A., 1997, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Austin, TX. Office—Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1700, Austin, TX 78712-0118. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Carolina Population Center, Chapel Hill, NC, postdoctoral research associate, 2000-01; Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, assistant professor of sociology and director of center for social research, 2001-02; University of Texas, Austin, assistant professor of sociology and faculty research associate of Population Research Center, 2002-07, associate professor of sociology, 2007—. National Study of Youth and Religion, collaborator.

MEMBER:

American Sociological Association (council member, Section on the Sociology of Religion), Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (member of Jack Shand Research Award committee, 2005-07).

WRITINGS:

(With Christian Smith, and Melissa Fritsch) Religion in the Lives of American Adolescents: A Review of the Literature, National Study of Youth and Religion, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC), 2003.

Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals and journals, including Social Forces, Sociology of Religion, Sociological Quarterly, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Social Science Research, Journal of Sex Research, and Social Psychology Quarterly. Member of editorial board, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mark Regnerus is a writer and an academic, serving as assistant professor of sociology at the University of Texas in Austin. His primary area of interest is the impact, both positive and negative, that religion has on society and the ways in which people experience their religious beliefs. He is also interested in adolescent sexuality, behavior, and development, and in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. He is the author of a number of articles and books, including Religion in the Lives of American Adolescents: A Review of the Literature and Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers. The latter book in particular looks at ways in which religious belief, or the lack thereof, affects the sexual development and experimentation of teenagers, a link that Regnerus suggests most investigations into teen sexual practices have overlooked. The book is the result of a number of surveys as well as one-on-one interviews in which Regnerus came to the conclusion that religion has a powerful effect on the ways in which teens talk about sex, but that is not always the same as affecting their ultimate choices about whether or not to engage in sexual activity. Leroy Hommerding, in a review for the Library Journal, called Regnerus's effort ‘thoroughly researched and carefully argued.’ Hannah Rosin, writing for Slate, found the book to be ‘a serious work of sociology."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, August 1, 2007, Dawn Eden, review of Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers, p. 63.

Library Journal, March 15, 2007, Leroy Hommerding, review of Forbidden Fruit, p. 77.

ONLINE

Mark Regnerus Home Page,http://www.markregnerus.com (October 10, 2007).

Slate,http://slate.com/ (May 30, 2007), Hanna Rosin, ‘Even Evangelical Teens Do It: How Religious Beliefs Do, and Don't, Influence Sexual Behavior."

University of Texas, Population Research Center Web site,http://www.prc.utexas.edu/ (October 10, 2007), faculty biography.