Welcoming Postdoc Mark Denninghoff
We are pleased to announce Mark Denninghoff as our 2018-2019 Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Mormon Studies.
Mark Denninghoff recently completed his PhD in Political Science at Purdue University. His primary research interests are in subnational regime change, especially in cases where regionally marginalized religious groups adopt national political parties. His doctoral work at Purdue University focused on Comparative Politics with secondary specializations in American Political Development and History. Prior to becoming an academic, Mark served in the U.S. Army Reserves, and as a Secondary school English Teacher.
Mark’s conference presentations have drawn attention to religiously diverse social movements, sectarian conflict and party adoption, regime maintenance strategies of religious elites, and also the impact of the introduction of patronage based politics into religiously organized societies. He is currently working on a book project based on his dissertation, “Political Order in the Modernizing Mormon Kingdom: 1887-1896,” which overturns common assumptions about subnational authoritarian regime maintenance and federal state formation in nineteenth century America and explores the nuances and contingencies of modernization. He plans to unite his interests in subnational democratization, marginalized religious groups, and state formation, by focusing future research on the concepts of modernity and secularism.
While at UVA, Mark will teach the following courses:
- Mormonism and American Culture
- Religion and Governments of the World
- Religion and American Political Institutions
- Religion Democracy and Modernity in the US
Download Mark Denninghoff’s CV