coqui21

There's no telling what the market will look like 6-8 years from now, but over the past two years it has been very rough. Many sociology PhD's are underemployed in temporary low paying teaching positions. The market appears as though it has improved some this year, but it's still very difficult to find a stable job that pays well in a desirable area. Of course, if you are geographically limited, it makes it even more difficult. For the best chance of success, go to a top school, publish (even if you desire a teaching position), and be willing to live anywhere in the United States...literally anywhere. In 2007, nearly 600 sociologists received PhDs. In 2008 there were only about 300-340 new Assistant Professor jobs filled. See this report for the nitty gritty details: http://www.asanet.org/research/ASAJobBankStudy09.pdf

This is not the reason these positions are imaginary. They are imaginary because professors are not only expected to profess pre-existing knowledge, but also to create and profess new knowledge in their areas of expertise through extensive research. JD's, to my knowledge, are not trained to do this...and therefore are only qualified for these mostly imaginary positions that you've made up (although they probably exist in a few small colleges somewhere).

I think a consensus has been reached. JD's are probably qualified for imagined PS faculty positions that do not exist (teaching undergrads, no grads, no research), teaching a small handful of peripheral courses that are hardly a staple of most political science programs. Good job SOG25, you win.

Diversion: the final mode of retreat?

I wouldn't worry so much about the supposed stigma issue. Baylor is the only school that you list which might be experiencing this, and that's only because they're so lopsidedly soc. of religion (and i think they require faculty to have a religious affiliation?). All of the other programs that you mention have a substantial number of well recognized scholars in multiple research areas (Rice included).

Purdue is generally recognized as a big step up from Cincinnati and Louisville, though also a big step down from IU Bloomington. There are a number of other very good schools that are also in the region (Notre Dame, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, all schools in Chicago, etc.).

A seemingly excellent Master's program with a late (March 1) deadline: UNC Charlotte. Their website says that their MA grads have moved on to top programs like Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, and others. There's also a lot of very good research coming out of there. http://sociology.uncc.edu/academics/graduate/admissions.html

Purdue and Notre Dame might also be worth looking into for Social Movements stuff. Both have a number of well recognized scholars in the field.

I heard that Benford's leaving SIU. Make sure to check on this before making a decision based on whether your interests align with his.

Beyond well-being, do you have any specific interests in the sociology of religion? That could help you narrow your search if applying widely is more difficult.

A lot of it depends on whether you want to study at a sociology of religion program, or whether you want to toss all of your eggs in one basket with one professor who has done some work in religion. Top recognized soc. of religion programs (w/ people who are experts specifically on religion, publish often in soc. of religion journals, etc,...there are plenty of places where a faculty member studies religion among other things...some of those schools have already been mentioned by other posters): Princeton, Duke, Texas, Penn State, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Purdue, Ohio State, Boston University, Baylor, Emory, Loyola, and Southern Illinois. As you can see there are a wide range of schools with varying strengths and weaknesses. Some have upwards of 8-9 sociology of religion scholars, while others have only 1. Some are ranked in the top 15-20 with less influential scholars, while some are un-ranked programs with the most cited soc. of religion scholars who publish in the biggest journals. My best advice would be to apply widely. I get the impression that more and more people are beginning to study religion, so it's becoming more competitive. If you apply widely, I think you'll be fine.

Fenggang Yang (Purdue) has done a fair amount of work on religion and immigration. Texas might be a good fit for you. They have some strong religion scholars and I believe they're known for a strong demography program (I could be wrong).

I just want to throw it out there that Purdue University is also a very solid place to study the sociology of religion. Fenggang Yang and Dan Olson are both great scholars who have developed impressive reputations in the field. They're also fairly young (both associate professors) and are committed to working with students. Purdue is supposed to hire another soc. of religion scholar at some point over the next two years to replace Jim Davidson. If you're interested in religion, I'd look into Purdue. The website is very informative and if you have any additional questions, feel free to PM me. Notre Dame and Duke are also great soc. of religion schools that I haven't seen mentioned. Best of luck in the applications process.

Definitely use this paper. It sounds interesting and sociological by nature. The writing sample isn't necessarily used as an assessment of your understanding of sociology, but rather, as an indication that you can produce research. It shows that you can lay out a research question, sort through and understand relevant literature, formulate hypotheses, test them, and interpret your results. The specific lens that you use to do this is secondary as long as it coordinates well with your question.

I'm not extremely familiar with religious studies research, but I am aware of people who were trained as sociologists of religion and are now in religious studies departments. There are also psychologists of religion, theologists, anthropologists, etc. Religious studies seems fairly broad, whereas sociologists tend to study how individuals/society influence religion, and how religion influences individuals and society. For the most part, sociologists of religion do not delve into scripture or religious ideas. I would think that our methods of research are pretty different, as well.