The New Religious Landscape in the United States
A monumental disaffiliation from organized religion, in general, and Christianity, in particular, has been underway in the United States for the last three decades with no signs of abating. Known in popular media as the “Nones,” religiously unaffiliated Americans have grown from 9% of the adult population in 1993 to 29% in 2022. If current trends continue, Christians will make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades. The United States is already experiencing a new religious landscape in which the old categories of religious identity no longer apply. This talk will explore new understandings of religious/spiritual/secular identities within this politically polarized nation.
Dr. Kathleen Garces-Foley is a professor of religious studies at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and her research focuses on the intersection of religion and culture in the contemporary United States. Her recent publications include The Twentysomething Soul: Understanding the Religious and Secular Lives of American Young Adults (Oxford 2019), and the second edition of Death and Religion in a Changing World (Routledge 2022).
- Date and time: Thursday, November 17, 2022, 18:00
- Venue: ELTE BTK Rákóczi út 5., Room 356
The event is organized by Dr. Éva Eszter Szabó, Deputy Head of Department, Department of American Studies, School of English and American Studies