James Thompson ‘26

James Thompson is a senior studying Sociology and Peace Studies with a minor in Data Science. He is completing an honors senior thesis in Sociology that explores Black Church negotiations with Christian Nationalism. To collect data, he spent ten weeks conducting in-person ethnographic research in Atlanta, Georgia at two charismatic churches. He continues to be immersed in these communities virtually, and is conducting semi-structured interviews to understand more fully how race, religion, and nationalism are negotiated at the congregational level.

As part of Kellogg, Thompson conducts research with Atalia Omer on similar topics, considering race and religion in the proliferation of (American) Christian Zionism. This has resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal for the Study of Christian Zionism and multiple conference presentations. At Notre Dame more broadly, Thompson is an Ethics Research Fellow with the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good where he investigates collective moral responsibility with the guiding question: Can you hold nations, or other conglomerates of people, morally responsible? He is a strong believer that research should inform the public and inform societal action, and he therefore leads various advocacy groups on campus relating to Palestine/Israel and reproductive rights. He is more than willing to connect with students about research at Notre Dame, ways to present your research, and way to make one's research actionable to change the world.

Thesis Title: "Making a Nation": an Ethnographic Study Exploring Black Church Relationships with Christian Nationalism