Damon W. Mayrl
Associate Professor of Sociology
Office: Diamond 209 [ campus map ]
Box 4719
Phone: 207-859-4719
Fax: 207-859-5369
E-mail: damon.mayrl@colby.edu
Mailing Address:
4719 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8847
4719 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8847
Office Hours:
Tu/Th 1:30-3:30, or by appointment
Tu/Th 1:30-3:30, or by appointment

Education
B.A., Yale University
M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Areas of Expertise
- Political sociology
- Sociology of religion
- Comparative and historical sociology
- Sociology of culture
- Sociological theory
- Social movements
- Law and society
- Public policy
Courses Currently Teaching
Course | Course Title |
---|---|
SO131 B | Introduction to Sociology |
SO215 A | Classical Sociological Theory |
SO236 A | American Religion and Society |
SO345 A | Current Topics in Sociology |
SO397A A | Categories, Classification, and Social Boundaries |
Professional Information
Damon Mayrl joined the Colby faculty in 2017. He previously taught at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
Mayrl's research uses comparative and historical methods to illuminate the interplay of culture, religion, politics, and public policy. His first book, Secular Conversions (Cambridge University Press, 2016), examines how political institutions contributed to religious change in American and Australian education from 1800 to the present. His current projects investigate how symbolic conflicts influence the form and visibility of the American state, how local actors understand the rapidly changing landscape of church-state law, and how historical methods are actually practiced in social scientific research.
Mayrl currently serves as Treasurer of the Social Science History Association, on Council for the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and on the editorial boards of Sociology of Religion and Civic Sociology. His research has appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Sociological Theory, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and other scholarly journals and edited volumes.
Mayrl's research uses comparative and historical methods to illuminate the interplay of culture, religion, politics, and public policy. His first book, Secular Conversions (Cambridge University Press, 2016), examines how political institutions contributed to religious change in American and Australian education from 1800 to the present. His current projects investigate how symbolic conflicts influence the form and visibility of the American state, how local actors understand the rapidly changing landscape of church-state law, and how historical methods are actually practiced in social scientific research.
Mayrl currently serves as Treasurer of the Social Science History Association, on Council for the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and on the editorial boards of Sociology of Religion and Civic Sociology. His research has appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Sociological Theory, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and other scholarly journals and edited volumes.
Publications
Mayrl, Damon, and Nicholas Hoover Wilson. 2020. "What Do Historical Sociologists Do All Day? Analytic Architectures in Historical Sociology." American Journal of Sociology 120(5): 1345-94.
Mayrl, Damon, and Nicholas Hoover Wilson. 2020. "The Archive as a Social World." Qualitative Sociology 43: 407-26.
Astor, Avi, and Damon Mayrl. 2020. "Culturalized Religion: A Synthetic Review and Agenda for Future Research." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 59(2): 209-26.
Mayrl, Damon. 2019. "Negotiating the Politics of Diversity: A Symposium on Rogers Brubaker's Grounds for Difference. Introduction." Social Science History 43(2): 365-68.
Mayrl, Damon. 2018. "The Judicialization of Religious Freedom: An Institutionalist Approach." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 57(3): 514-30.
For additional publications and further information, please visit his personal website.
Mayrl, Damon, and Nicholas Hoover Wilson. 2020. "The Archive as a Social World." Qualitative Sociology 43: 407-26.
Astor, Avi, and Damon Mayrl. 2020. "Culturalized Religion: A Synthetic Review and Agenda for Future Research." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 59(2): 209-26.
Mayrl, Damon. 2019. "Negotiating the Politics of Diversity: A Symposium on Rogers Brubaker's Grounds for Difference. Introduction." Social Science History 43(2): 365-68.
Mayrl, Damon. 2018. "The Judicialization of Religious Freedom: An Institutionalist Approach." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 57(3): 514-30.
For additional publications and further information, please visit his personal website.
The directory information is for individual use only, it may not be retransmitted or published for any reason. It is not to be used for mass solicitations by email, mail, phone, or other means. Sale or other distribution of this document is prohibited by College policy.