Thought leaders will contribute to the public understanding of religion, culture, and public policy
WASHINGTON (May 20, 2025) — Today, Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, welcomed five new experts joining the organization as Affiliated Scholars. In addition to political scientist Paul A. Djupe, Ph.D., PRRI Affiliated Scholars now include: Kelsy Burke, Ph.D., Andrew R. Flores, Ph.D., Eric L. McDaniel, Leah Payne, Ph.D., and Samuel Perry, Ph.D. See full bios for all affiliated scholars below.
“PRRI Affiliated Scholars are leaders in their respective fields and experts on the influence of religion on our nation’s politics,” said Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., chief executive officer of PRRI. “We are thrilled to have these scholars working with PRRI and using our latest public opinion data to generate impactful commentary and analysis at the intersection of religion, culture, and politics.”
PRRI Affiliated Scholars produce high-quality research, are committed to public scholarship, and contribute their thought leadership to advance PRRI’s research agenda.
# # #
About PRRI
PRRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy.
PRRI Affiliated Scholars:
Kelsy Burke (they/she) is a Professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the editor of Contemporary Sociology, and an award-winning researcher of religion, sexuality, and culture. Burke’s research has examined a wide range of topics, including religious freedom laws and LGBTQ rights, evangelical women’s ministries, public debates over pornography, and the Christian sex advice industry. They are currently writing a book (forthcoming with Pantheon) on the origins and evolutions of the anti-transgender movement in the United States. They are also the author of Christians under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet (University of California Press, 2016) and The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession (Bloomsbury, 2023). Burke’s research has been supported by multiple grants and fellowships, including from the National Science Foundation, and has been published by top academic journals and popular outlets, including The Guardian, Newsweek, Slate, and The Washington Post.
Paul A. Djupe is a political scientist at Denison University (Ph.D., Washington University in 1997), where he directs the Data for Political Research program. He specializes in religion and American politics, social networks, and political behavior. Dr. Djupe is the editor of the Religious Engagement in Democratic Politics series with Temple UP and was the editor of the APSA Politics & Religion journal. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and books, including Trump, White Evangelical Christians, and American Politics: Change and Continuity (2024, U Penn), The Full Armor of God: The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics (2023, Cambridge), The Evangelical Crackup? The Future of the Evangelical-Republican Coalition (2019, Temple), the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics & Religion (2020, Oxford), and The Political Influence of Churches (2009, Cambridge). His research interests include examining how religious communities provide political information and how members then use that information and how religious worldviews, such as Christian nationalism and apocalypticism, work to shape American public opinion and political behavior in unexpected ways. He blogs for various outlets, most regularly for religioninpublic.blog, which he co-founded.
Andrew R. Flores (he/him) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government in the School of Public Affairs at American University and a Distinguished Affiliated Scholar at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Flores’ research centers on attitude formation and attitude change about LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ rights, and he studies how politics affect the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people. Dr. Flores is an Associate Editor of Political Research Quarterly, among the leading generalist journals of political science. His peer-reviewed research has appeared in Science Advances, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, the American Journal of Public Health, Policy Studies Journal, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Psychology.
Eric L. McDaniel is a Professor in the Department of Government and the co-director of the PRE Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. His research examines how the intersection of race and religion influence the American political landscape. His book, Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches, provides an explanation for why some Black churches choose to engage the political world while others do not. His most recent book, The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics, co-authored with Irfan Nooruddin and Allyson Shortle, explores the ramifications of Americans believing that their nation is God’s chosen nation. Focusing specifically on how this belief influences how Americans come to understand themselves and the nation’s place in the world, they demonstrate the pervasive power of American religious nationalism. Currently, he is working on a project examining what people believe their religion calls upon them and the political and social consequences of these beliefs. Additionally, he is working on projects related concerning religious freedom and the role of religion in shaping health behavior and health policy attitudes. Along with his book manuscripts, Dr. McDaniel’s research has been published several academic journals. He has also published opinion pieces in several national outlets.
Leah Payne is an award-winning historian and Professor of American Religious History at Portland Seminary. She holds a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and her research explores the intersection of religion, politics, and popular culture. Payne is author of God Gave Rock & Roll to You: a History of Contemporary Christian Music (Oxford University Press, 2024), the 2024 Christianity Today book of the year for History and Biography, and Gender and Pentecostal Revivalism: Making a Female Ministry in the Early Twentieth Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). Payne is an Evangelical Studies Program Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and her current projects trace the ascent of transnational Pentecostal and Charismatic political ideologies in American public life. She is creator and host of Spirit & Power, an Axis Mundi Media podcast about politics and Pentecostal and charismatic Christians recognized by the Religion Communicators Council for outstanding work in the communication of religion issues. Payne also co-hosts Rock That Doesn’t Roll, a Public Radio Exchange (PRX) podcast about Christian rock and its listeners, and is co-creator of Weird Religion, a religion and pop culture podcast. Her writing and research has appeared in outlets such as The Washington Post, BBC Radio, NBC News, Religion News Service, Harper’s Magazine, The Economist, and Christianity Today.
Samuel Perry (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is the Sam K. Viersen Presidential Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Perry’s work focuses primarily on the ways recent demographic transitions and political realignments are transforming the ways Americans think about religion, race, politics, and families. Along with well over 100 peer-reviewed articles published in leading academic journals, Dr. Perry is also the author or co-author of five books, including Growing God’s Family (NYU, 2017), Addicted to Lust (Oxford, 2019), Taking America Back for God (Oxford, 2020, with Andrew Whitehead), The Flag and the Cross (Oxford, 2022, with Philip Gorski), and Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion (Oxford, 2024). Dr. Perry is also committed to public scholarship. In addition to regular speaking engagements around the country, he has frequently written for outlets like TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, NBC News, and The Dallas Morning News. Dr. Perry’s interviews and research findings have also been featured on CNN and The Mehdi Hasan Show, recent documentaries by Frontline and Al Jazeera, and the movie Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy.