We will continually update this page as we schedule talks related to our project.
Upcoming talks:
“Religion and Occupational Activism among Local Government Officials in the United States.” Paper presentation by Jonathan Coley, Gary Adler, Damon Mayrl, Rebecca Sager, Eric Plutzer, and Gabby Gomez. (1) Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. Montreal, QC. August 2024. (2) Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Minneapolis, MN. November 2025.
Past talks:
“Governing During a Culture War: Religion and Local Government Officials’ Attitudes toward Transgender Rights Policies in the United States.” Paper presentation by Jonathan Coley, Gary Adler, Damon Mayrl, Eric Plutzer, Rebecca Sager, and Gabby Gomez. Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. Chicago, IL. August 2025.
“Confidence in Elections among U.S. Local Officials: Effects of Social Trust, Partisanship, and Political Ambition.” Paper presentation by Eric Plutzer, Gary Adler, Rebecca Sager, Jonathan Coley, and Damon Mayrl. Political Polarization and its Policy Consequences Conference, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland. March 2025.
“Christmas Tree or Something Else? Local Holiday Displays and Government Officials’ Preferences for Religion in Public.” Paper presentation by Gary Adler, Jonathan Coley, Damon Mayrl, and Rebecca Sager. (1) Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. Philadelphia, PA. August 2023. (2) Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Salt Lake City, UT. October 2023.
“Policing the Wall: How Religious Leaders and Local Law Enforcement Officials Interact in Eight American Communities.” Paper presentation by Jonathan Coley, Rebecca Sager, Gary Adler, and Damon Mayrl. (1) Joint Session for the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association & Association for the Sociology of Religion. Los Angeles, CA. August 2022. (2) Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Baltimore, MD. November 2022.
“The State of Public Religion in Rural, Small-town America.” Paper presentation by Gary Adler, Damon Mayrl, Jonathan Coley, and Rebecca Sager. (1) Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Portland, OR. October 2021. (2) 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. Philadelphia, PA.
“Church and State in Local Politics.” Salon featuring Gary Adler, Damon Mayrl, Jonathan Coley, Rhys Williams, and Omar McRoberts. Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. New York, NY. August 2019.