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about me

I am Associate Professor of Sociology in the Sociology Program, and also am a member of the faculty in the Program in Social Data Analytics and Research in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences (EPPS) at The University of Texas at Dallas.  I received my Ph.D. from Columbia University in Religious Studies in 1985; I was awarded a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology by Union Theological Seminary in New York in the same year.

I have published two book monographs on religion and social change; both books were published by the American Academy of Religion and are in the catalogue of Oxford University Press.  The first book received grant support from Southern Methodist University.  The second book was supported by a grant from the American Academy of Religion (Southwest Commission on Religious Studies) as well as Southern Methodist University.  I was one of two primary authors and one of two co-editors of a third book, which was published by The Edwin Mellen Press.  The last book was based on a U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant.  I was the PI for the grant project.  The book grew out of a refereed, co-authored paper presented at a symposium on college educational opportunities for Hispanic students organized by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University with support from the Pew Hispanic Center.

My single-author articles have been published in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, Journal of Ritual Studies, Semeia:  Journal for Biblical Interpretation, and Listening:  Journal of Religion and Culture.  A co-authored article has appeared in the National Social Science Journal (2019).  Another co-authored article, for which I was the lead author, has appeared in the Journal for Hispanic Higher Education.  I have published book chapters—all as the single author—in edited books by Sage Publications, Inc.; Greenwood Press; Parthian Books; Brill (2015); and Great River Learning (2017).  I have published entries in two editions of The Encyclopedia of Religion, and entries in Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions (2018), and Encyclopaedia Britannica.

I teach courses on religion in U.S. society, religion in public life (a graduate course), religions in global societies, religion in international development, immigrants and immigration in U.S. society, immigration policy (graduate course), field research methods, field research practicum, qualitative research methods (a graduate course for all EPPS students), and qualitative research practicum (the same).  In the last two course, EPPS grad students design and conduct research for their dissertations and Master theses, while Fast-Track EPPS undergraduate students conduct research leading to the Master degree.  I currently serve on seven doctoral dissertation committees in EPPS and am Co-Chair of one of these committees.  I was Visiting Scholar in the Social Work Program in the School of Law at Guangdong University of Technology in Guongzhou, Guangdong Province, China, where I taught my UTD course, Field Research Methods, to social work students in 2016.

I have been a Nominee for the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring for two years running (2018 and 2019).  I am a two-time recipient of the Student Choice Teaching Award presented by students in the formerly named School of Social Sciences at UTD, and I have received the Outstanding EPPS Faculty Comet Teaching Award in Sociology in two consecutive years (2015 and 2016).  I received a Distinguished Teacher in Diversity and Multicultural Education Award (2014), which is presented by UTD’s Office of Diversity and Community Engagement.

I currently serve on the UTD University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the new UTD Interfaith Advisory Council.  I have served on many other university-wide committees:  Committee on Education Policy (CEP), which I served as Chair; the Committee on Core Curriculum (CCC); Committee on Student Scholarships, of which I was Vice Chair; and the Advisory Committee of the Office of International Education.  I have been a member of the Sociology Program Committee in EPPS and the School’s Committee on Teaching Effectiveness.  As former Assistant Dean and College Master in the School of Social Sciences, I served on the UTD Council of Masters, an administrative body.  I have served as Faculty Advisor in UTD’s Office of Undergraduate Education under the Dean of Undergraduate Education.  I am Faculty Advisor to the UTD Sociology Club and UTD’s Buddhism Discussion Club, and I have been long-time Faculty Advisor to the UTD Baha’i Club.  I am Faculty Advisor to the new Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, and was Faculty Advisor to the UTD Intercultural Women’s Society.

I am a member of Friends of Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Yale ISM) at Yale University, an advisory body appointed by the Director of the Institute.  I also am a member of the American Academy of Religion and a past member of the AAR’s Ritual Studies Steering Committee.


contact info

E-mail: bcalex@utdallas.edu
Home Page: http://www.utdallas.edu/~bcalex
Office Phone: (972) 883-6898
Fax: (972) 883-6297
Office: GR 2.532
Mail Address:
Dr. Bobby C. Alexander
University of Texas at Dallas
800 W. Campbell Rd
Richardson, Texas 75080-3021