SOCIETY CULTURE RELIGION
MICHAEL WILKINSON
Professor of Sociology
ABOUT ME
My Background
I’m a sociologist based at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. My research focuses on cultural analyses of religion. I have written about immigration and religion, evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, and globalization. I teach courses on the sociology of religion, religion and culture, globalization, and theory.
Explore this site to see the projects I've worked on and feel free to contact me with any questions you have about my research and teaching.
EDUCATION
PHD, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA
1999
My doctoral research assessed the impact of migration from Africa, Asia, and Latin America on Christianity in Canada.
MA, WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY
1993
My master's degree focused on social scientific approaches for understanding religion and culture.
BA, CARLETON UNIVERSITY
1992
I completed my bachelor's degree in the department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Recent Projects
FLOURISHING CONGREGATIONS
2019-2023
Flourishing congregations is a multi-year and multi-funded project from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities. Joel Thiessen at Ambrose University is a leader in the study of Canadian congregations and together we are working to understand how congregations flourish among Roman Catholic, historic Protestant, and evangelical Protestant churches.
RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY, SECULARITY, AND SOCIETY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
2017-2020
This project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to study the growing rates of "no religion" in the Pacific Northwest. I worked with project team leader Paul Bramadat at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society. The book Religion at the Edge: Nature, Spirituality, and Secularity in the Pacific Northwest is one outcome of the project.
AFTER THE REVIVAL: PENTECOSTALISM AND THE MAKING OF A CANADIAN CHURCH
2015-2020
I worked with Linda Ambrose, Laurentian University to conduct a cultural analysis of Pentecostalism in Canada. The result was the book, After the Revival, published by McGill-Queen's University Press. Our book project was funded by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Awards to Scholarly Publications Program.
VIEWS OF DIVERSITY IN A KOREAN CONGREGATION
2016-2017
This was a follow-up study funded by the Religion and Diversity Project (SSHRC) to study what the members of an immigrant congregation thought about multiculturalism in Canada. Earlier projects examined transnational ties between Canada and Korea and the views of second-generation young adults.
