Topic of the thesis: Non-Religious Discourses in the United States and the United Kingdom (1881-2020).

Abstract: The aim of this project is to address the lack of detailed longitudinal data about non-religion and to identify the characteristics of non-religious discourses between 1881 and 2020 in the United States and the United Kingdom. The US and the UK share the same language and followed considerably different trajectories of religious change. In fact, while the United States used to be – and to some extent still are – used as the prime counterexample to the secularization thesis, the United Kingdom showed signs of a significant secularization early on in its modern history. This general aim clearly has a twofold nature. On one side, following a relational understanding of Big Data, the project challenges the dominant methodologies seeking in the so-called “Big Data of the past” a suitable source of alternative information. On the other side, by exploiting the granularity of these data sources, the proposal intends to shed light on the general characteristics of nonreligious discourses and on their changes over time in a comparative perspective.

Research interests: Culturalized Religion – Non-Religion Studies – Secularity – Non-Religious Discourses – Big Data & Text Mining – Quantitative Methods.

Graduated from: University of Trento.

Degrees obtained: BA in Sociology – MA in Sociology and Social Research.

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