What's Driving the Orthodox Convert Surge? An Orthodox Anthropologist's Perspective

In this interview, I'm joined by Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz to discuss how an uptick in converts, especially among young men, is impacting Orthodoxy in America. Dr. Riccardi-Swartz brings an interesting perspective to this topic as she is both an academic anthropologist and an Orthodox Christian herself. Her research is some of the first of its kind regarding Orthodoxy in America. 

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About the Guest:
Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz is an assistant professor of religion and anthropology at Northeastern University, where she is also an affiliate faculty member in the women's, gender, and sexuality studies program. Before joining Northeastern University she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Recovering Truth: Religion, Journalism, and Democracy in a Post-Truth Era project at the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict (Arizona State University). She has a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from New York University. After completing an honors B.A. and M.A. in Religious Studies (American religions) at Missouri State University, she attended NYU to study and research religion and politics in the United States from an anthropological perspective. Along the way, she obtained a graduate certificate in Culture and Media (ethnographic filmmaking) and an M.Phil in Anthropology from NYU. Her research focuses on conservative politics, gender/sexuality, race, media worlds, and Orthodox Christianity.

Chapters
00:00 Orthodoxy: An Anthropological Perspective
06:11 Media & Orthodoxy's Visibility
09:07 Cultural Identity and Conversion 
12:10 Politics & Conversion
20:55 Community in Conversion Experiences
23:56 ROCOR and the Fascination with Russia
26:54 The Future of Orthodoxy in America
30:36 Orthodoxy in Appalachia
35:47 The Emergence of Political Conversations
40:39 Understanding the Unique Nature of ROCOR
42:24 Cultural Heritage
45:49 The Internet & Orthodoxy
53:02 Fr. Seraphim Rose

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