| Dr. Marler received her B.S. from Auburn University, an M.S.S.W. from the University of Louisville, and her M.Div. and Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Marler is a sociologist of religion with scholarly interest in contemporary American religion, and especially, the relationship between church and society. Her grant-funded research has focused on the shape and future of American Protestantism, cross-national trends in church involvement among Protestants and Catholics, and most recently, the impact of peer learning on pastoral leaders and their congregations. Her grant-related administrative work includes the development of the theological exploration of vocation and the sustaining pastoral excellence initiatives at Samford. She also is the Grant and Research Coordinator for the Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence. Dr. Marler has published numerous scholarly articles and essays. She was a co-author of Being There: Culture and Formation in Two Theological Schools (Oxford University Press, 1997) which received the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in 1998. More recently, she collaborated with an international panel of sociologists of religion in a study of young Roman Catholics, which resulted in the book, Young Catholics at the New Millennium: The Religion and Morality of Young Adults in Western Countries (University of Dublin Press, 2000). Her ongoing research interests include religion in America, theories of religious change, and congregational dynamics. At Samford she teaches Sociology of Religion, Sociological Theory, Foundations of Congregational Studies, Theories of Faith Development, and the Senior Seminar in Congregational Ministries. |
Office: Chapman 315
plmarler@samford.edu
205-726-2869
Curriculum Vitae
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