Andrew L. Whitehead is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives (theARDA.com) at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University – Perdue University Indianapolis.
Whitehead’s research focuses on religion, politics, and power in contemporary American culture. He is the co-author of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2020)—along with Samuel Perry—which won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is the author of over forty-five peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2019 his co-authored article “Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election” (Sociology of Religion, 2018) won the Distinguished Article Award for both the Association for the Sociology of Religion and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. His next book, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, is due out in 2023 from Brazos Press.
Whitehead’s research has been featured across several national outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, CNN Today, The Economist, and The Guardian and he is routinely contacted for perspective on religion and politics from national and international news media. He has also written for The Washington Post, Time, NBC News, and the Religion News Service, among others. Along with his work on Christian nationalism, Whitehead also explores childhood disability and religion.
Whitehead serves as co-Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives (theARDA.com). The ARDA is the world’s largest online religion data archive and is currently funded through generous support from the Lilly Endowment and the John Templeton Foundation. He and his colleagues at the ARDA are committed to providing numerous resources to democratize access to quality data for journalists, researchers, congregational and lay religious leaders, and educators. Whitehead is also currently Associate Editor for Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review and serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI.org) and the Religion Research Association.
Whitehead earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Purdue University. He completed his Ph.D. in Sociology at Baylor University in 2012.
