Andrew Whitehead
Department of Sociology
Expert Bio
Andrew Whitehead is a professor of sociology and executive director of the Association of Religion Data Archives at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University Indianapolis. Whitehead is one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States. He is the author of “American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church,” which was awarded the 2024 Gold Medal Book Award for Religion from Foreword Reviews and the 2024 Midwest Book Award winner for Religion & Philosophy.
He is also the lead author of “Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States” — along with Samuel Perry — which won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. In 2019, his co-authored article “Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election” in the Sociology of Religion won the Distinguished Article Award for both the Association for the Sociology of Religion and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
In addition to his award-winning research, Whitehead has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on external research grants totaling over $11.5 million.
In recognition of these efforts, Whitehead was awarded the 2023 IUPUI Research Trailblazer Award and the 2023 Outstanding Tenure Track Faculty Award from the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts.
The author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and two books, Whitehead is a sought-after speaker and has shared his work with diverse audiences: academic and public, religious and secular. His research on Christian nationalism has been featured across several national outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, CNN Today, The Economist, Rolling Stone and The Guardian. He has been interviewed on NBC News, National Public Radio and the BBC, among others, and is routinely contacted for perspective on religion and politics from national and international news media.
He has also written for The Washington Post, Time, NBC News and the Religion News Service, among other outlets. Along with his work on Christian nationalism, Whitehead’s research also explores childhood disability and religion.
Whitehead serves as executive co-director of the Association of Religion Data Archives, the world’s largest online religion data archive. It is currently funded through generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc., the John Templeton Foundation and the Templeton Religion Trust.
Areas of Expertise
Christian nationalism, religion, religion in the United States, religion and politics, politics, evangelicals, religion and race, religion and disability, disability, religion data, data.
Other Information
Book: “American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church” (Brazos Press, 2023)
Book: “Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States” (Oxford, 2020)
Time: “The Growing Anti-Democratic Threat of Christian Nationalism in the U.S.”
NBC News: “Christian nationalism’s Covid vaccine doubt threatens America’s herd immunity”
International Research Network: “Crusading for Moral Authority: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Science in the United States”
Religion Dispatches: “Nostalgia Voters? Not Really. Trump and His Supporters Value This More Than the Past”
Religion Dispatches: “Gun-Wielding White Couple Make Perfect Protagonists for Republican Convention’s ‘Great American Story’”
New York Times: “How White Evangelical Christians Fused With Trump Extremism”
New York Times: “The Capitol Insurrection Was as Christian Nationalist as It Gets”
NPR: “Militant Christian Nationalists Remain A Potent Force”
NPR: “Disinformation Fuels A White Evangelical Movement. It Led 1 Virginia Pastor To Quit”
Religion News Service: “For insurrectionists, a violent faith brewed from nationalism, conspiracies and Jesus”
Religion News Service: “What next? Christian leaders offer advice for confronting Christian nationalism”
Presentation to Faith Leaders: “Democracy and Faith Under Siege: Responding to Christian Nationalism”
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