Education

Research Interests

Religion, Morality, Politics, Culture, Cognition, Emotion, The Life Course, Families

Book

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Awards and Honors

• Best Student Paper Award, Sociological Forum 35th Anniversary Graduate Student Paper Competition, “Fight-or-Flight for America: The Development of Christian Nationalist Ideology during the Transition to Adulthood,” 2021
• Student Paper Award Honorable Mention, American Sociological Association Section on the Sociology of Religion, “Fight-or-Flight for America: The Development of Christian Nationalist Ideology during the Transition to Adulthood,” 2021
• Best Student Article Award, American Sociological Association Section on Evolution, Biology, and Society, “Fight-or-Flight for America: The Development of Christian Nationalist Ideology during the Transition to Adulthood,” 2021
• Letter of Commendation from Faculty, Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 2021
• Student Paper Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, “Moral Religiosities: How Morality Structures Religious Understandings during the Transition to Adulthood,” 2020
• Robert J. McNamara Student Paper Award, Association for the Sociology of Religion, “Moral Religiosities: How Morality Structures Religious Understandings during the Transition to Adulthood,” 2020
• Letter of Commendation from Faculty, Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 2020
• William V. D’Antonio Award for Graduate Student Excellence in the Sociology of Religion, Center for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Notre Dame, 2020
• John J. Kane Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Graduate Student, Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 2019
• Student Paper Award Honorable Mention, American Sociological Association Section on the Sociology of Religion, "Religion Imagined: The Conceptual Substructures of American Religious Understandings," 2019
• Mary Ellen Konieczny Best Graduate Student Sociology of Religion Paper Award, Center for the Study of Religion and Society, "Religion Imagined: The Conceptual Substructures of American Religious Understandings," 2019
• Commencement Reader, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2016. Chosen by PTS President and Deans for representing the spirit of the Class of 2016

Grants and Fellowships

• Graduate Student Research Award, ND Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, 2019. $1,196
• Research Grant, ND Center for the Study of Religion and Society, 2019. $2,350
• Leadership Advancing Socially Engaged Research (LASER) 2019-2020 Cohort, University of Notre Dame, 2019-2020. $500
• Engaging Young Adults Initiative Grant, Lilly Endowment Inc. & Sunnyside Presbyterian Church, 2018. $62,679
• Conference Presentation Grants, ND Center for the Study of Religion and Society, 2017-2019. $3,554.31
• Conference Presentation Grants, ND College of Arts and Letters, 2017-2019. $1,497.07
• University Presidential Fellowship, University of Notre Dame, 2016-2021. $145,000

Select Public Writing and Speaking

Michael Rotolo. 2021, April 7. “Fear and Anger: Christian Nationalism among Young Adults,” on Center for Congregations Podcast.

Michael Rotolo. 2019, December 21. “Image Schemas: The Physics of Cultural Knowledge?” on Culture, Cognition, and Action (CultureCog) Blog.

Research Experience

Teaching Experience

Conference Presentations

August 8, 2021 — “Author Meets Critic Session for Religious Parenting: Transmitting Faith and Values in Contemporary America,” Virtual Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

August 8, 2021 — “Becoming an Extremely Liberal Millennial: Far-Left Ideological Development during the Transition to Adulthood,” American Sociological Association Virtual Annual Meeting.

October 23, 2020 — “Fight-or-Flight for America: Becoming a Christian Nationalist during the Transition to Adulthood,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, originally scheduled for Pittsburgh, PA.

August 8, 2020 — "Culture Beneath Discourse: Theorizing the Properties and Relationships of Cognitive Cultural Entities," American Sociological Association Virtual Annual Meeting, originally scheduled for San Francisco, CA.

August 2020 — “Fight-or-Flight for America: Becoming a Christian Nationalist during the Transition to Adulthood,” 82st Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, originally scheduled for San Francisco, CA.

October 25, 2019 — "America’s Four Religiosities: How Moral Orientations Structure Religious Practice During the Transition to Adulthood," Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO.

August 12, 2019 — "Religion and Ultimate Concerns During the Transition to Adulthood: The Role of Values in Forming Religious Outlooks," 81st Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, New York, NY.

October 28, 2018 — "Imagining Religion: The Unconscious Substructures of American Religious Understandings," Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.

August 13, 2018 — “Imagining Religion: An Image Schematic Approach to Cultural Cognition,” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

October 27, 2017 — “Preparation for the Journey: The Role of Experience in Parent’s Religious Transmission Approaches,” Harvard Divinity School Ways of Knowing Graduate Conference on Religion, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

October 13, 2017 — “Measuring Religiousness: Conventional Measures vs. Self-Evaluation From Adolescence to Young Adulthood,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Invited Talks

May 16, 2021 — “Division and Dialogue in U.S. Politics,” Series Speaker, Cathedral of Saint James, South Bend, IN.

March 17, 2021 — “Religious Engagement among Young People in America,” Workshop Leader, Center for Congregations, Live Webinar.

February 24, 2021 — “Religious Engagement among Young People in America,” Workshop Leader, Center for Congregations, Live Webinar.

October 9, 2020 — “Religious Parenting: Transmitting Faith and Values in Contemporary America,” Book Discussion, Notre Dame Research and Analysis in the Sociology of Religion (RASR) Workshop, Notre Dame, IN.

March 5, 2020 — “Accompanying Young Adults,” Panelist, Lilly Engaging Young Adults Statewide Commencement Gathering, Indianapolis, IN.

February 5, 2020 — “Seeking the Good Life: The Moral Development of Young People in America,” Program Speaker, The South Bend Rotary Club, South Bend, IN.

February 2, 2020 — “The Subtext of Religious Parenting,” Book Talk, Sunnyside Presbyterian Church, South Bend, IN.

December 24, 2018 — “Holy Family,” A Reflection on My Research Pertaining to Present-Day Religion and Young People, First Baptist Church, Henderson, NC.

January 28, 2018 — “The Sacredness of Stories,” Lecture on Young Adults and Religion, Sunnyside Presbyterian Church, South Bend, IN

April 23, 2017 — “How We Are Similar and Why We Are Different: A Sociological Approach to Understanding Each Other.” Lecture on Personhood, Sunnyside Presbyterian Church, South Bend, IN.

Professional and University Service