Courses
Religion and Politics
Counter-Terrorism & the Law
Counter-Terrorism & the Law
Highest degree earned
Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1965
Areas of Expertise
Millenarian and utopian movements, radical right, terrorism
Research Interests
Millenarian and apocalyptic groups, political extremism, religiously-based violence, conspiracy theories.
Research Grant Awards and Projects
“Conspiracy Networks” – Beliefs about conspiracies that cross national boundaries.
“The FBI and Religion after September 11th” – the interactions of the Bureau with the Muslim community after 9/11 and their implications for relations between state and religion.
Selected Publications
Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011
Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, University of California Press, expanded edition 2013
Religion and the Racist Right, University of North Carolina Press, 1997
Crucible of the Millennium, Syracuse University Press, 1986
Disaster and the Millennium, Yale University Press, 1974
Law Without Sanctions, Yale University Press, 1968