Steven Foertsch, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Sociology / Criminology

social theory, political sociology, new religious movements, sociology of deviance, ideology

Department

Sociology and Criminology

sfoertsc [at] nebrwesleyan.edu

Background

Dr. Steven Foertsch is an award-winning Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at ��ý. His background spans research, teaching, and policy, with current affiliations including the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University and the Online Spiritual Atlas of the Global East project at Purdue University. He also serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Wuhan Journal of Cultic Studies.

Originally rooted in policy work with AmeriCorps and the United Nations, his research now examines the intersections of ideology, deviance, and group epistemology. Dr. Foertsch has conducted extensive studies on diverse belief systems, ranging from Transhumanism and Mahāyāna Buddhism to organizational Satanism, QAnon, and Christofascism.

His social analyses and commentaries appear in a variety of venues, including national human rights outlets, CounterPunch, and George Washington University’s Illiberalism Studies Program, and are frequently referenced across social media-- including X, Bluesky, Reddit, Wikipedia, Grokipedia, YouTube, Rumble, Instagram, Facebook, and Discord. 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.

All of Dr. Foertsch's published works and his most recent CV can be found here for free without paywall:

Education

Ph.D., Sociology, Baylor University, 2025

M.A., Sociology, Baylor University, 2022

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

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

Courses taught

Introduction to Sociology

Criminology

Crime, Deviance, and Society

Race and Ethnicity

Introduction to Criminal Justice

Women and Crime

Research and academic interests

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

Service interests

Religious freedom; social policy; housing; corrections.

Professional and community affiliations, certifications and awards

Peer Reviewed Publications

Foertsch, Steven and Heewon Yang. 2026. “Religious Organization Ecology and Schism in the Contemporary Unification Church.” The Wuhan Journal of Cultic Studies 3(1): 14- 40

Foertsch, Steven, and Harrison S. Jackson (sharing 1st). 2025. “Meta-Subjectivity and Ideational Analysis.” Journal of Metamodern Theory and Praxis 2(1): 17-36.

Foertsch, Steven. 2025. “Defending Critical Epistemology: The Case of Christian Nationalism and Christofascism.” Sociological Forum 0(0):1-5.

Foertsch, Steven, and Kevin D. Dougherty. 2025. “Worshipping with the US Flag.” Religions 16 (6): 690.

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

Recent Media Mentions and Contributions

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