2015-2017, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Jack Shand Research Award

Wenner-Gren Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Award

Training the Porous Body: Evangelicals and the Ex‐Gay Movement

When White Nationalism Became Popular

Feminist Ethnography in Cyberspace: Imagining Families in the Cloud

Vanderbilt is a dynamic center of research, learning and growth - a private research university of 6,300 undergrads and 5,300 grad/professional students.

Vanderbilt University

Sophie Bjork-James has engaged in long-term research on both the U.S.-based Religious Right and the white nationalist movement. She is working on a book manuscript which explores the importance of the family in the white evangelical tradition. Her work has appeared on the NBC Nightly News, NPR’s All Things Considered, BBC Radio 4’s Today, and in the New York Times.

Conservative Christianity

Religion

White Nationalism

Reproductive Politics

Race and Racism

Evangelicalism

Hate Crimes

Feminism & Gender Studies

Racism

Vanderbilt University Profile

Vanderbilt University News Profile

The Conversation Profile

Personal Website

Google Scholar Profile

Truthout Profile

Many hate crimes never make it into the FBI’s database.

Experts: Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric could galvanize extremists

Republican politicians all over the country have repeated the Great Replacement theory

Americans' erratic relationship with religion will be tested again after abortion ruling, experts say

Teachers who mention sexuality are ‘grooming’ kids, conservatives say

QAnon’s ‘Save the Children’ morphs into popular slogan

YouTube follows Twitter and Facebook with QAnon crackdown

QAnon Linked to at Least 44 Election Candidates in 2020—and Some Could Win

Notre Dame Cathedral fire spurs Islamophobic conspiracy theories on social media

Far-Right Internet Groups Listen for Trump’s Approval, and Often Hear It

Replacement theories, hunting RINOs: How GOP candidates, lawmakers push 'dangerous' language

The Alt-Right and the Legacy of Racism in the US

Gender and nation in US Evangelicalism

Understanding the Alt-Right

The Alt-Right in US History

Where do we go from here? Racism, Populism, Fascism and the Future of the Hard Right

Assistant Professor of the Practice in Anthropology 

Anthropologist Sophie Bjork-James, a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University, is an expert in white supremacist social movements and has monitored the largest white nationalist website, Stormfront.org, since 2004. The media has begun to focus on Stormfront as Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof's alleged white supremacist beliefs have come to light.

Bjork-James has published her findings in “The Apartheid Conscience: What the white nationalist movement can teach us about the reproduction of white supremacy in America,” “Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights” and the chapter titled “Cybersupremacy: The new face and form of white supremacist activism” in Tactics in Hard Times: Practices and Spaces of New Media.

“We cannot understand this shooting outside of the history of white supremacist violence in the United States,” Bjork-James says. “The organized white supremacist movement is actively engaged in new media, providing online spaces for disaffected whites to hone and develop white supremacist ideas. Stormfront.org frames whites as an embattled minority and offers an alternative news venue that portrays whites as the victims of black racial violence. Though Stormfront moderators claim they do not advocate violence, this perspective can lead to violence that perpetrators see as justified.”

Media may call Vanderbilt University News and Communications 24/7 at (615) 322-NEWS to arrange interviews. After-hours callers will be directed to the information officer on call.



Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt. 

See all Vanderbilt social media at http://social.vanderbilt.edu.

Vanderbilt expert can explain modern white nationalism in the U.S.

Dr. Sophie Bjork-James, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, speaks about the rise of far-right groups and white nationalist movements such as QAnon and the Proud Boys, their increasing presence in mainstream thought and debate, the U.S. President's remarks about them during the 2020 campaign. 

Learn more about Sophie Bjork-James's expertise and media appearances here:
https://expertfile.com/experts/sophie.bjorkjames

NewsPoint360 is a news organization focused on giving credible experts a platform through video interviews that are uniquely designed for media and other key audiences looking for knowledgeable perspectives on trending stories.

Visit other NewsPoint360 channels:
Website: https://newspoint360.net/
Twitter: http://np360media.net/Twitter
LinkedIn: http://np360media.net/LinkedIn
Facebook: https://np360media.net/Facebook
YouTube: http://np360media.net/YouTube

Dr. Sophie Bjork-James on the Rise of White Supremacist Groups in the United States

Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy hosted a live virtual panel discussion on “Facts and Evidence: Navigating the Gun Debate in America,” on Tuesday, June 7, at noon CT about the issue of gun violence in America. The discussion featured expert faculty and guest speakers, including Vanderbilt University’s Jonathan Metzl, Sophie Bjork-James and James Blumstein and Duke University’s Joseph Blocher.

Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu
Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@vanderbiltu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=19443
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/vanderbilt

See all Vanderbilt social media at http://social.vanderbilt.edu.

Facts and Evidence - Navigating the Gun Debate in America

Media Inquiry