May 29, 2008

BCU Professor to Participate in Religious Diversity Seminar

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Briar Cliff University’s Paul Olson, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at BCU, has been selected among an international pool of candidates to participate in the seminar “Congregations and Religious Diversity in Contemporary America” at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in June. 

The seminar will be hosted by Dr. R. Stephen Warner of the University of Illinois-Chicago, a preeminent scholar of American religious life.  The focus of the seminar is the role of religious congregations in an increasingly diverse American society.

One of 12 scholars selected from an international pool of applicants, Olson’s contributions at the seminar will involve his research on using church directories to map where church members live in relationship to their churches from 1900s and early 2000s. 

“This project is innovative and has the potential to break new ground in the sociology of religion. However, the true benefit is helping clergy to better understand the sociological phenomena affecting their churches,” said Olson, who noted that BCU students have participated in the research.  

Briar Cliff University is a Catholic institution with an enrollment of more than 1,100 students from 26 states and four countries.  Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care and compassion. For more information, please visit www.briarcliff.edu.