Professional Bio

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the sociology department with a graduate minor in social thought at Penn State. Drawing on insights from cultural sociology, I study populist politics, intergroup relations, and the political dimensions of religiosity. I am especially interested in how symbolic disparagement, threat, and resentment affect processes of meaning-making in political and religious contexts. My current projects focus on the United States and Germany. I am also interested in classical theory, contemporary theory, and the history of sociology.

My research has received awards from the American Sociological Association, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Midwest Sociological Society. My dissertation is supported by grants awarded by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, as well as by Penn State’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Albanese, Anthony. 2023. “The Future of Historical Consciousness in Sociology.” The American Sociologist 54(1): 147-75.

Albanese, Anthony. 2023. “Perceived Threat, Reactive Identification, and Religious Change: Right-Wing Secularization in Germany, 1999-2017.” Religions 14(5): 648.

Kurpiel, Allison and Anthony Albanese. 2023. “The Noncitizen Penalty in U.S. Federal Courts: Differences in Punishment by Region of Citizenship.” Sociological Perspectives 66(5): 820-843.

Albanese, Anthony, Elise Wolff, and Alan Sica. 2023. “Forgetting the Founders? The Uses of Classical Theory Today.” Society 60(5): 722-732.

Book Review

Albanese, Anthony. 2022. Review of Aspects of the New Right-Wing Extremism by Theodor W. Adorno. Critical Sociology 48(3): 538-539.

Selected Awards and Grants

2024      Alan Booth Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Work ($1,200), Pennsylvania State University

2024      Best Graduate Student Paper Award, ASA History of Sociology and Social Thought Section

2024      Research in Democracy Support Grant ($2,100), The McCourtney Institute for Democracy

2024      Best Graduate Student Paper Award (Honorable Mention), Midwest Sociological Society ($100)

2023      Dissertation Support Grant ($480), Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Pennsylvania State University

2022      Best Graduate Student Paper Award ($500), Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

2022      Best Graduate Student Paper Award (Honorable Mention), ASA Sociology of Religion Section

Research Interests by Concentration

Sociological Theory, Political Sociology, Right-Wing Populism, Sociology of Religion, Xenophobia, Group Processes, Conspiratorial Ideation, Culture, History of Sociology