Jana Kathryn Riess (born December 13, 1969)[2][page needed][1]: 158 [third-party source needed] is an American professor, writer, and editor. Riess' writings have focused on American religions, especially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) of which she is a member, and other new religious movements.[not verified in body]
Jana Riess | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jana Kathryn Riess December 13, 1969[third-party source needed] United States |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | PhD |
| Alma mater | Columbia University[citation needed] |
| Period | 1990s-present |
| Genre | Religion |
| Spouse | Phil Smith[1]: 5, 153 |
| Children | Jerusha (born c. 1999)[1]: 19, 56 |
Early life and education
As she describes in her own autobiographical writings, Riess was born in the Midwestern United States, and has an older brother, John.[1]: 58, 168 She and her mother Phyllis[2]: xix were, per her description, abandoned by her father without warning in 1984,[1]: 166–9 by which time her brother was on his own.[citation needed] Riess has described her father, who died at age 71 in Mobile, Alabama, in October 2010,[1]: 166–9 as "an angry atheist" and her mother as "considerably more charitable but no more interested in organized religion."[1]: 1
Riess has a Bachelor's degree from Wellesley College, a Master's degree in theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary, and a PhD in American Religious studies from Columbia University.[citation needed]
Career
Riess is an expert on religion in literature.[citation needed] As of this date,[when?] Riess is a Religion and American Studies professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.[citation needed]
From 1999 to 2008 she was the religion book editor for Publishers Weekly.[3][4][third-party source needed]
A member of the LDS Church, Riess has spoken at Brigham Young University Women's Conference and other gatherings of the LDS Church, as well as professional conferences.[citation needed]
Writings
Riess' 2019 The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church, received critical praise;[5][verification needed][6] Phil Zuckerman, a professor of sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California,[7] describes the work as "[s]ociologically sound, extremely well-researched and well-written".[6]
Riess and her colleague Benjamin Knoll published a landmark analysis[clarification needed][full citation needed] which questioned the accuracy of reports that LDS membership was growing.[6][5][verification needed]
Tweeting the Bible
On October 4, 2009, Riess began a project to tweet the bible. Her "Twible" quest concluded in January 2013. Each tweet summarizes a chapter of the bible. Riess tweets the bible in order and plans to hit all 1,189 chapters in 140 characters.[8] She later published it in book form as The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less . . . Now with 68% More Humor![9]
Other work
In July 2001 Riess moderated a debate between Richard Abanes and Connie Neal at a convention of Christian retailers over the "real religious concern" over the Harry Potter books with regard to their presentation of witchcraft and aspects of the occult.[10] Among the books by Riess are the 2004 What Would Buffy Do?,[citation needed] and an abridgment of the Book of Mormon with commentary.[clarification needed][citation needed]
As of 2017, she was conducting "The Next Mormons" survey project to look at how different generations of Mormons have interacted with the Church.[11][needs update]
Personal life
Riess is a convert to the LDS Church.[citation needed] She is married to Phil Smith, and they reside in Cincinnati.[3]
Works
- Books
- Articles
- Other