University of Southern California
USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Paul Roger LichtermanProfessor of Sociology and ReligionContact Information E-mail: lichterm@usc.edu Phone: (213) 740-3533 Office: KAP 352 LINKS Curriculum Vitae |
Biographical Sketch |
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| Paul Lichterman’s specialty areas include culture, religion, civic organizations and social movements, politics, qualitative methodology, and theory. His first book, The Search for Political Community (Cambridge University Press, 1996), investigated different styles of grassroots environmentalism in the U.S., their strengths and drawbacks. His recent book, Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying to Bridge America’s Divisions (Princeton University Press, 2005), compares nine religiously based community service groups responding to welfare reform. The study portrays different ways these mainline and evangelical Protestant groups tried, and often failed, to reach out to other community organizations and low-income people. A lot of Paul’s research asks how people practice active citizenship, “build community,” and define public issues in a socially unequal, culturally diverse society. Paul also theorizes how culture—discourses, religious traditions, mass-mediated communication—shapes action in everyday life, and how people in turn use culture. Paul has won Best Article awards twice from the ASA’s Section on Sociology of Culture, for work in American Journal of Sociology and Theory and Society; the book Elusive Togetherness won the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Distinguished Scholarship Award of the Pacific Sociological Association, and Honorable Mention from ASA’s Section on Sociology of Culture. His work is translated into French, Dutch, and Italian. With grants from National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation, Paul is studying the different ways that public organizations define and act on issues related to housing and homelessness in Los Angeles. The study involves an innovative combination of methodologies including ethnography and network analysis, and ultimately will include a cross-national comparison. | |
Education |
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 Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 5/1992
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M.A. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 12/1983
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B.A. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 6/1981
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Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History |
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Tenure Track Appointments |
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Professor of Sociology and Religion, University of Southern California, 12/05/2008-
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Associate Professor of Sociology and Religion, University of Southern California, 08/16/2004-12/05/2008
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Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 04/22/2004-05/30/2006
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Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 01/01/1992-04/21/2004
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Visiting and Temporary Appointments |
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Visiting Professor, Université de Paris VIII, 05/01/2010-05/28/2010
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Visiting Fellow, Princeton University, Center for the Study of Religion, 2001-2002
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Annenberg Scholar, Annenberg School for Communication, U of Pennsylvania, 1994-1995
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Description of Research |
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Summary Statement of Research Interests |
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| Paul Lichterman's research areas include culture, religion, politics and social movements, civic organizations, and theory. He has studied environmental movement organizations; lesbian and gay activism; religious community service organizations, and social movement coalitions, networks and nonprofit organizations that address housing and homelessness. He pursues this research to understand how people practice active citizenship and create broad social ties in a diverse and unequal society, and how different kinds of public organizations embrace or shun different ways of defining social problems. | |
Research Specialties |
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| culture (public culture, civic and political culture, organizational culture), religion, political sociology, civic engagement, theory, qualitative methodology, ethnographic methods | |
Funded Research |
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Contracts and Grants Awarded |
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Strengthening Qualitative Research through Methodological Innovation and Integration (National Science Foundation), Chris Weare, Paul Lichterman, Nina Eliasoph, Nicole Esparza, $104,997, 09/01/2010-12/31/2011
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Paid civic engagement: Young interns in the age of the nonprofit (Spencer Foundation), Paul Lichterman, Nina Eliasoph, $39,525, 01/01/2010-06/30/2010
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The Dynamics of Civic Relationships (National Science Foundation), Chris Weare, Paul Lichterman, Ann Crigler, Nina Eliasoph, $125,000, 10/01/2007-12/31/2008
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USC Funding |
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Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences/Provost. Dynamics of civic life: addressing homelessness in Los Angeles and Paris: This pilot research project investigates how civic organizations in Los Angeles and Paris define the problem of homelessness and craft responses. It will inform my main study of housing groups., $15,875, 07/01/2008-06/30/2009
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Other Funded Research |
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Pew Charitable Trusts, through the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Two-year seed grant to develop and initiate research project on civic engagement and institutional change in Los Angeles. My project funded research time during the academic year and a research assistant. It was one of three research projects in the working group I directed, titled "Religion, Community Life, and Institutional Change," all funded by Pew. , $35,000, 09/15/2005-08/16/2007
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Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions |
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Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 09/2004-12/2007: executive board member; working group director
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Conferences and Other Presentations |
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Other Presentations |
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"Sybil and the strong silent type", Blog discussion on The Immanent Frame website, Social Science Research Council, http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2010/03/31/sybil-and-the-strong-silent-type/ , 03/31/2010
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"Religion's Reputation", Blog discussion on The Immanent Frame website, Social Science Research Council, http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2010/02/10/religions-reputation/ , 02/10/2010
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""Beyond Beliefs"", The Immanent Frame, Blog on Secularism, Religion and the Public Sphere, Social Science Research Council, New York, 09/05/2008
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Publications |
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Book |
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Lichterman, P., Potts, C. Brady (Ed.).
(2008).
The Civic Life of American Religion. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
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Lichterman, P. R.
(2005).
Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying to Bridge America’s Divisions. Princeton University Press.
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Lichterman, P. R.
(1996).
The Search for Political Community: American Activists Reinventing Commitment. Cambridge University Press.
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Journal Article |
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Lichterman, P.
(2012).
Religion in Public Action: From Actors to Settings. Sociological Theory.
Vol. 30 (1), pp. 15-36.
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Lichterman, P. R.
(2008).
"Religion and the Construction of Civic Identity." American Sociological Review. American Sociological Review 73(1)83-104 (Feb. '08)..
Vol. 73 (1), pp. 83-104.
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Lichterman, P.
(2007).
"Repenser la "critique" dans la sociologie culturelle états-unienne : remplacer la démystification par une solution pragmatique.". Tracés: Revue de Sciences Humaines.
Vol. 13 (2), pp. 73-89.
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Lichterman, P. R.
(2006).
"Social capital or group style? Rescuing Tocqueville's insights on civic engagement". Theory and Society/Kluwer Academic Publications (Kluwer).
Vol. 35(5/6), pp. 529-563.
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Lichterman, P.
(2006).
"Circulation de la religion sur la place publique locale aux États-Unis.". Sociologie et Sociétés.
Vol. 38 (1), pp. 31-54.
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Lichterman, P., Eliasoph, N.
(2003).
"Culture in Interaction" (co-authored with Nina Eliasoph), American Journal of Sociology 108(4): 735-794 (January). American Journal of Sociology.
Vol. 108 (4), pp. 735-794.
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Honors and Awards |
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Provost's award-ASHSS program, 7/2008-6/2009
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Visiting Professor, Universität Erfurt, 6/1/2009-6/18/2009
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Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Distinguished Book Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2006-2007
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Fulbright Award, Senior Specialist at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 11/2006-12/2006
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Distinguished Scholarship Award, Pacific Sociological Association, 2006
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Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Honorable Mention, Best Book competition, Amer. Sociological Asoo. Section on Culture, 2006
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Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Best Article Award, Section on the Sociology of Culture of the American Sociological Association, 2005
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Fellow (or Equivalent) of National Society in Discipline, Center for Study of Religion, Princeton University, 2001-2002
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Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Best Article Award, Section on the Sociology of Culture of the American Sociological Association, 2001
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Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999-2000
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Service to the University |
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Other Service to the University |
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Co-Director, Religion and Public Life seminar, monthly campus-wide workshop, with attendees from around southern California; sponsored by Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 2008-2009
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Director, interdisciplinary research cluster titled Religion, Community Life and Institutional Change, funded by Pew Charitable Trusts and organized by Center for Religion and Civic Culture., 08/2005-05/2007
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Service to the Profession |
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Editorships and Editorial Boards |
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editorial board member, Qualitative Sociology, 09/01/2010-
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member, Comité Scientifique (consulting editorial board), Tracés, 02/2007-
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consulting editor, American Journal of Sociology, 10/2004-10/2006
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Professional Offices |
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Co-organizer, Political Culture Research Network- ASA Section on Culture, 09/1994-
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