Faculty Profile - Fiona Dougherty
Fiona Dougherty
she/her
Visiting Faculty, School of Interdisciplinary Studies
Email: [email protected]
Office: LMH 162
Phone: 616-331-8102
Bio
Fiona Dougherty is a visiting faculty member in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley State University. Her research interests are in sociology of religion, gender, and spirituality. Using qualitative methodologies, her research investigates the social and cultural dynamics that shape emergent spiritual communities and identities insofar as they reject mainstream notions of religiosity and embody alternative spiritual narratives and meaning making practices. She is currently conducting analysis on research that will serve as her dissertation. Her work has been conferenced and published across disciplines, and she aims to continue weaving together academic perspectives that explore the causes and conditions of social and cultural change.
Areas of Interest
Sociology of Religion
Gender and Religion
'Spiritual But Not Religious' (SBNR)
Spirituality, Culture, and Health
Education
Western Michigan University, Comparative Religion Department, MA 2019
Publications
Smith, Jesse M. and Fiona Dougherty. 2025. "Faith, Doubt, and Context: How the Life course Shapes the Space Between Religious and Secular Worldviews." Review of Religious Research.
(Under Review) Tierney, Katherine; Dougherty, Fiona; Urban, Amber; Hovav, April "'I highly doubt he's blaming himself': Gendered Infertility Schemas among Highly Educated Women in the United States" Journal of Family Studies.