Emily McKendry-Smith, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology & IRB Faculty Fellow
678-839-5404
emckendr@we stga.edu
Pafford Social Science Building - Room 219
Office Hours
Student meeting hours, Fall 2024: Tuesdays & Thursdays 1-2 PM, Tuesdays 5-6 PM
I am also available at other times and for online meetings. Email me and we can schedule an appointment.
Research participants can reach me by email or at 678-905-0478
Emily McKendry-Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of West Georgia. She received her PhD from the University of North Carolina. Dr. McKendry-Smith teaches courses in social theory, research methods, religion, family, and social movements. Her research centers on interconnections between religion and family, the ways individuals use religion to define their identities, and the meanings they attach to place. She has made multiple grant-funded research trips to the Chitwan district in Nepal, where she worked with the Institute for Social and Environmental Research to study a local new religious movement.
Her current research focuses on the use of solar power by religious congregations in the United States.
Dr. McKendry-Smith's interest areas within sociology include religion, family, sociology of culture, social theory, and qualitative and mixed research methods.
- B.A., Anthropology/Sociology and Political Science, Knox College, 2005
- M.A., Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007
- Ph.D., Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013
- SOCI-3293 (Sociology of Family)
- SOCI-3543 (Sociology of Religion)
- SOCI-3743 (Social Movements)
- SOCI-4053 (Sociological Theory)
- SOCI-4999 (Families, Foster Care, and Ado)
- SOCI-6013 (Social Research)
- SOCI-6182 (Cults & New Religious Movement)
- SOCI-6286 (Internship)
- SOCI-6305 (Advanced Sociological Theory)
- SOCI-6363 (Sociology of the Family)
- SOCI-6882 (Thesis Preparation)
- SOCI-6982 (Fmlies & Cntmpry Social Prblms)
- SOCI-6983 (Continuing Research)
- SOCI-6999 (Thesis)
Spring 2025 Sections
- SOCI-4999 (Cults & New Religious Movement) Section: 01D external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-4999 (Families, Foster Care, and Ado) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6182 (Cults & New Religious Movement) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2024 Sections
- SOCI-3543 (Sociology of Religion) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-4053 (Sociological Theory) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6286 (Internship) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6999 (Thesis) Section: 01D external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2024 Sections
- SOCI-6983 (Continuing Research) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2024 Sections
- SOCI-4999 (Families, Foster Care, and Ado) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6305 (Advanced Sociological Theory) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6882 (Thesis Preparation) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2023 Sections
- SOCI-3293 (Sociology of Family) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-4053 (Sociological Theory) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6363 (Sociology of the Family) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2023 Sections
- SOCI-3293 (Sociology of Family) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2023 Sections
- SOCI-3543 (Sociology of Religion) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-4053 (Sociological Theory) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2022 Sections
- SOCI-6286 (Internship) Section: 01D external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2022 Sections
- SOCI-3543 (Sociology of Religion) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-3743 (Social Movements) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2021 Sections
- SOCI-3293 (Sociology of Family) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-4053 (Sociological Theory) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6305 (Advanced Sociological Theory) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2021 Sections
- SOCI-4053 (Sociological Theory) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6982 (Fmlies & Cntmpry Social Prblms) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6983 (Continuing Research) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2021 Sections
- SOCI-3543 (Sociology of Religion) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6013 (Social Research) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6999 (Thesis) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2020 Sections
- SOCI-3293 (Sociology of Family) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-3293 (Sociology of Family) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-3743 (Social Movements) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- SOCI-6882 (Thesis Preparation) Section: 01D external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
McKendry-Smith, Emily. 2022. “Public Household, Private Congregation: The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘Public Private’ Space for Nepali Women.” Nova Religio 25(3): 32-56. [View Publication External Resource]
McKendry-Smith, Emily and Anne Kristen Hunter. 2022. “Characterizing Dimensions of Social Research.” Ch. 3 in Social Research Methods: Sociology in Action, edited by Kristin Kenneavy, Catherine Eve Harnois, Maxine P. Atkinson, and Kathleen Odell Korgen
McKendry-Smith, Emily. 2018. “‘New Congregationalism’ in Nepal: The Brahma Kumaris and the Rationalization of Hindu Religious Practice.” Pp. 305-319 in Religion im Kontext | Religion in Context: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium, edited by Ann
McKendry-Smith, Emily. 2017. “‘Enjoy the Heat of the Log and Heed the Advice of the Elders’: Religious, Educational, and Neighborhood Determinants of Parental Influence on Spousal Choice in Nepal.” Pp. 1-26 in Contemporary Perspectives in Family Re [View Publication External Resource]
McKendry-Smith, Emily. 2016. “‘Baba Has Come to Civilize Us’: Developmental Idealism and Framing the Strict Demands of the Brahma Kumaris.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 55(4): 698-716. [View Publication External Resource]