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Danielsen Named Director of the The Kripke Center

Dec 21, 2022
2 min Read
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Sabrina Danielsen

Bridget Keegan, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has announced that Sabrina Danielsen, PhD, of the department of Cultural and Social Studies, has been selected as the next director of the The Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke Center for Religion and Society. Danielsen will succeed Ron Simkins, PhD, who has led the Kripke Center for more than 20 years. 

Danielsen’s area of research and teaching expertise is in the sociology of religion. She has been a faculty associate of the Kripke Center since 2014. Her research primarily examines how religious groups discuss social issues, with an emphasis on environmental issues.

Danielsen’s work has been published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of ReligionSocial Science ResearchAmerican Journal of SociologyEnvironmental Research LettersJournal of Religion and Society, and Journal of Church and State. She received her PhD and MA in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in sociology and anthropology from Swarthmore College. 

Danielsen has already held a variety of leadership positions on campus, including chair of the University Committee on the Status of Women, co-director of the Women and Gender Studies Program and program director for sociology.  She is active with undergraduate research mentoring.

"The committee that reviewed the applications was especially impressed with Dr. Danielsen’s exciting vision for the Kripke Center, building upon the strong foundation established by Dr. Simkins," Dean Keegan said. "Please join me in congratulating Dr. Danielsen and thanking Dr. Simkins."

She will begin the role in the new academic year, on July 1, 2023.

About the Kripke Center: Created through a generous gift from the Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke, the Kripke Center for Religion and Society is open to all faith traditions and spiritualities. It encourages the study of all religious groups and beliefs among the various peoples of the world, past and present, in order to encompass the diversity of interest in the field and to encourage the widest possible comparative perspective. Because the great questions of life do not fit neatly into single disciplines, the Kripke Center has chosen to be cross-disciplinary and to include scholars from all academic disciplines who offer insights into the myriad topics that relate to the study of religion and society.

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