Teaching Assistant Professor

Research Interests

Religion, Secularism, Science and Technology, Media and Communication, Social Movements

Contact Information

Office: AA4049C

Email: stephenhl@mun.ca

Ph: 709-864-3977

Personal Profile

Dr. LeDrew completed a BA and MA in Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a PhD in Sociology at York University. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society at Uppsala University, Sweden, before returning to the sociology department at Memorial. His research primarily centres on the politics of secularism, and science and religion in public discourse. His work in these areas has been featured in a number of scholarly journals and edited collections, writings and interviews for mainstream media, and two monographs published by Oxford University Press.

Research

Selected Publications:

Stephen LeDrew (2024). Two Tales of the Death of God. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stephen LeDrew (2016). The Evolution of Atheism: The Politics of a Modern Movement. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stephen LeDrew (2020). “Atheism as a Political Project” (Featured Review Essay). Politics and Religion 13(2): 415-423.

Stephen LeDrew (2020). “Secular Criticism of Religion.” In A Constructive Critique of Religion: Encounters Between Christianity, Islam, and Non-religion in Secular Societies (ed. Mikael Stenmark and Mia Lövheim). London: Bloomsbury; pp. 32-43.

Stephen LeDrew (2019). “Atheism and the Social Sciences.” In Science, Belief and Society: International Perspectives on Religion, Modernity and the Public Understanding of Science (ed. Stephen Jones, Tom Kaden, and Rebecca Catto). Bristol, UK: Policy Press; pp. 223-240.

Evelina Lundmark and Stephen LeDrew (2019). “Unorganized atheism and the secular movement: reddit as a site for studying ‘lived atheism’.” Social Compass 66(1): 112-129.

Stephen LeDrew (2018). “Scientism and Utopia: New Atheism as a Fundamentalist Reaction to Relativism.” In Relativism and Post-Truth in Contemporary Society: Possibilities and Challenges (ed. Steve Fuller, Mikael Stenmark, and Ulf Zackariasson). London: Palgrave MacMillan; pp. 143-156.

Stephen LeDrew (2017). “Faith in Progress: Evolutionism and the New Atheism.” In Interrogating the Social: A Critical Sociology for the 21^st Century (ed. Fuyuki Kurasawa). London: Palgrave MacMillan; pp. 269-292.

Stephen LeDrew (2017). “Atheism’s Dark Side Aiding the Trump Agenda.” Religion Dispatches, February 26.

Stephen LeDrew (2017). “Nyateismen och Därbortom [New Atheism and Beyond].” Sans (1): 88-92. 

Stephen LeDrew (2016). “Vetenskap och auktoritet inom den nya ateismen” [Science and authority in the new atheism].” In Att Undervisa om Människosyner och Gudsuppfattningar (ed. Olof Franck and Mikael Stenmark). Stockholm: Liber; pp. 201-220.

Stephen LeDrew (2016). “A Response to a Review.” Free Inquiry 36 (6): 45-47.

Stephen LeDrew (2016). “Viss sorts ateism är blind för social ojämlikhet.” Svenska Dagbladet, March 10.

Stephen LeDrew (2015). “Atheism Versus Humanism: Ideological Tensions and Identity Dynamics.” In Atheist Identities: Spaces and Social Contexts (ed. Lori G. Beaman and Steven Tomlins). Cham, Switzerland: Springer; pp. 53-68.

Stephen LeDrew (2013). “Discovering Atheism: Heterogeneity in Trajectories to Atheist Identity and Activism.” Sociology of Religion 74(4): 431-453.

Stephen LeDrew (2013). “Reply: Toward a Critical Sociology of Atheism: Identity, Politics, Ideology.” Sociology of Religion 74(4): 464-470.

Stephen LeDrew (2012). “The Evolution of Atheism: Scientific and Humanistic Approaches.” History of the Human Sciences 25(3): 70-87.