Schwadel to present Nebraska Lecture on March 30

Craig Chandler | University Communication and Marketing

Philip Schwadel will present the Nebraska Lecture "Declining Religion in the U.S.: The Causes and Consequences of Religious Disaffiliation Among Young Americans" on March 30 via Zoom.

Philip Schwadel, Carl A. Happold Professor of sociology, will present the March 30 Nebraska Lecture, which will focus on the decline in religion among young Americans.

Schwadel’s lecture via Zoom will be at 2 p.m. and include a live Q&A. The topic is “Declining Religion in the U.S.: The Causes and Consequences of Religious Disaffiliation Among Young Americans.”

“The unprecedented growth in nonreligion among younger Americans is profoundly changing our society,” Schwadel said. “In this talk, I will discuss the state of American religion, how nonreligious young adults differ from religious young adults, and what that means for the future of American society.

“Although the U.S. was historically a relatively religious nation, religion has declined considerably in recent years. As my research shows, the growth of nonreligion among American youth is particularly dramatic and likely to profoundly impact the future of our society.”

Overall, the percentage of Americans with no religion increased from 7% in 1990 to 30% today.

In addition to his research, Schwadel teaches several courses on religion, including Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Global Religious Diversity and a graduate seminar on religion.

The Nebraska Lecture is open to the public, but registration is required to receive the Zoom link.  Viewers may submit questions for the Q&A session to unlresearch@unl.edu. The lecture is part of the Student Research Days celebration March 27-31.

The Nebraska Lectures are offered twice a year and feature high-profile presentations by distinguished Husker faculty who address topics of broad interest in an engaging, accessible format. All talks are free and open to the public. The talks are streamed online. Regular updates, as well as archived videos from each lecture, are available on the event website. 

The Nebraska Lectures: The Chancellor’s Distinguished Speaker Series is sponsored by the Research Council, Office of the Chancellor, Office of Research and Economic Development, and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. 