Steven Foertsch, Ph.D.

ideology, deviance, religion, politics, social theory

Department

Sociology and Criminology

sfoertsc [at] nebrwesleyan.edu

Background

Steven Foertsch is an award-winning Assistant Professor from �ǲ��app with a background in research, teaching, and policy. He also serves as a Non-Resident Fellow of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University and a Contributor to the Online Spiritual Atlas of the Global East at Purdue University. Beginning with policy experiences ranging from AmeriCorps to the United Nations, he now focuses on the study of ideology, deviance, and the generation of group epistemology. He has conducted a variety of studies to research belief systems, ranging from Transhumanism, Mahāyāna Buddhism, organizational Satanism, and QAnon, to Christofascism. With this background, Steven is looking forward to continuing his research and teaching into the intersections of religion, politics, deviance, pluralism, and social and political philosophy.

Education

Ph.D., Sociology, Baylor University, 2025

M.A., Sociology, Baylor University, 2025

M.A., Sociology, The New School for Social Research, 2020

B.A., History and Sociology, Assumption College, 2017

Courses taught

Introduction to Sociology

Crime, Deviance, and Society

Race and Ethnicity

Introduction to Criminal Justice

Women and Crime

Research and academic interests

Ideology; Deviance; Sociology of Religion; Political Sociology; Social Theory; Mixed-Methods; Historical Comparative Methods; Political Economy; Social and Political Philosophy.

Service interests

Social policy; housing; corrections.

Professional and community affiliations, certifications and awards

Peer Reviewed Publications

Foertsch, Steven. 2025. “Tracking Emergent Religious Groups in the US and Adherence Over Time.” The Journal of CESNUR 9(2): 26-47.

Foertsch, Steven, Rudra Chakraborty, and Paul Joosse. 2024. “Asymmetric Conflation: QAnon and the Political Cooptation of Religion.” Politics and Religion 17(1): 58-80.

Melton, J. Gordon, Ferguson, Todd, and Steven Foertsch. 2023. “The Others: Finding and Counting America’s Invisible Churches.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 62(4): 901-912.

Foertsch, Steven. 2023. “Metamodernity, American Transcendentalism and Transhumanism in Japanese Anime.” Anime, Philosophy, and Religion. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.

Foertsch, Steven and Christopher M. Pieper. 2023. “A Social History of Christofascism.” Routledge International Handbook of Sociology and Christianity. Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge.

Jang, Sung Joon, Foertsch, Steven, Johnson, Byron R., Ozbay, Ozden, and Fatma Takmaz Demire. 2023. “Religiosity and Deviance among College Students in Turkiye: A Test of Ascetic Theory.” Deviant Behavior 49(9): 1334-1348.

Foertsch, Steven. 2022. “A Field Study Update on Organizational Satanism and Setianism in the United States.” Review of Religious Research 64(1): 981-996.

Foertsch, Steven. 2022. “Children of the Mind and the Concept of Edge and Center Nations.” Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy vol. 5.

Foertsch, Steven. 2022. “An Organizational Analysis of the Schismatic Church of Satan.” Review of Religious Research 64(1): 55-76.

Selected Grants and Awards

Grant to Study Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, KH Foundation, 2024-5

Baylor Graduate School Outstanding Research Award for Social Sciences, 2023

Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion Grant for Global East Diaspora Religion Study, 2023

Outstanding Doctoral Paper Award, Southwestern Sociological Association, 2023

Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, 2017-8

Selected Fellowships and Additional Training

Bernard Ramm Scholars Program, Truett Theological Seminary and Baylor University Graduate School, 2023-2024

Graduate Student Workshop, Chapman University and Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society, 2023

Don Lavoie Fellowship, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, 2022

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Young Scholars Initiative, 2021

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