Dr. Fenggang Yang

Biography

Fenggang Yang is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Purdue University and the founding Director of the Center on Religion and Global East. He has a distinguished academic background, having obtained his Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1997. Yang specializes in the sociology of religion, focusing on religious change in China and immigrant religions in the United States. He is the founding editor of the Review of Religion in Chinese Society and has served as the elected President of both the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion from 2014 to 2015 and the East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion from 2018 to 2020. His major works include 'Atlas of Religion in China: Social and Geographical Contexts' (2018) and 'Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule' (2012). Yang has co-edited more than ten books and authored numerous articles, garnering several distinguished article awards. He is frequently invited to give lectures and keynote presentations at major universities and professional associations across Asia and Europe, and his research has attracted media attention from outlets such as NPR, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, CNN, and BBC.

Research Interests