Currently Professor of Religious Studies at UiT--The Arctic University of Norway, I am a senior scholar in the field of New Religious Movements. At present, I co-edit Brill’s Handbooks on Contemporary Religion series with Carole Cusack, Routledge's (formerly Ashgate's) New Religions series with George Chryssides, and the Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities series with Henrik Bogdan. I also edit Cambridge University Press's Elements series on Religion and Violence. Additionally, I currently serve as the editor for the Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review.

I have a general background in both Asian religions and American religions -- with specialized interests in 'Prophet' religions, in Neoshamanism and in portrayals of Native Americans/Native American religions. Though trained in the older ‘Chicago School’ approach to religious studies that has been so heavily criticized in recent decades, my preferred methodology is sociological. I also have interests in Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion, and in the emergent fields of Religion and Violence, and the study of irreligion/non-religion. Since moving to Norway in 2010, I have developed interests in New Religions in Nordic countries and New Religions in Central and Eastern Europe. Most recently, I have been working on Chinese New Religions, and developing an interest in Korean New Religions.

I am currently working on research projects involving: 'Free Zone' (Independent) Scientology, Falun Gong, the relevance of census data (from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK) and other kinds of survey data for the study of new religious movements (my monograph on this topic, Sects & Stats, was published in 2014 by Equinox Publishing), a project on 'Constructing Sacred Authority: How Religions Seek Legitimacy' (to be published by Cambridge University Press) which involves an extension of my work on legitimation strategies. I have also recently finished working on a collection of papers on Terrorism and Religion. A new edition of my Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, co-edited with Inga Tøllefsen, was recently published by Oxford University Press. Additionally, an anthology on Neo-Shamanism with Trude Fonneland and Siv Ellen Kraft appeared in early 2015.

Despite the extreme environment of northern Norway (200 miles north of the Arctic Circle), I feel blessed to be able to work in a congenial department with great colleagues and brilliant graduate students. For good measure, I should also add that Norwegians are wonderful people.
Phone: (+47) 776 23226
Address: University of Tromsø
IHR/HSL
9037 Tromsø
Norway