Jerry Park

Education

Ph.D. Sociology, University of Notre Dame
M.A. Sociology, University of Notre Dame
B.A. Psychology with Sociology minor, University of Virginia

Biography

Dr. Jerry Park is an associate professor of sociology and an affiliate fellow of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a psychology major and sociology minor, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology at the University of Notre Dame. His research interests include the sociological study of religion, race, identity, culture and civic participation. Recent publications have covered topics such as racializing religious measures, religion and inequality attitudes, and Asian-American religiosity. Currently he is involved in major data collection efforts that oversample racial and religious minorities, and his research focuses on minority-serving congregations, racial and religious minorities’ views on white Christian nationalism, Asian American and Korean American identities, perceived racial and religious group threats including anti-Asian discrimination, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. His undergraduate teaching is in the sociology of racial and ethnic inequalities, migration, and at the graduate level, he teaches a seminar on the sociology of culture and religion, and the sociology of race, gender, and religion. He is president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (2025-2026).

Recent Publications

Fishman, Samuel, Michael Ervin, Jerry Z. Park. 2025. “Extending Strategic Adaptation: The Children of Immigrants’ Pursuit of STEM Education.” Social Science Research 128: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103157

Lauve-Moon, Tim and Jerry Z. Park. 2023. “Racism in the Hands of an Angry God: How Image of God Can Activate or Resist Colorblind Racism Narrative Frames Regarding Police Treatment of African Americans.” The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 62:605-623. doi: 10.1111/jssr.12863

37. Park, Jerry Z., and Joyce C. Chang. 2023. “Centering Asian Americans in Social Scientific Research on Religious Communities.” Theology Today 79:398-409. doi: 10.1177/00405736221132859

36. Evans, Hannah and Jerry Z. Park. 2023. “Intersectional Stratification: Race, Religion, and Status Attainment.” Critical Research on Religion 11:82-105. doi: 10.1177/20503032221124544