Randall J. Stephens

Academic interests
Historian of 19th and 20th century religion, American and British culture, conservatism in the US, the American South, environmentalism, and pop music.
Background
Randall J. Stephens is Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. He previously taught at Northumbria University (Newcastle upon Tyne) and Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy, Massachusetts). He is a historian of religion, conservatism, the South, environmentalism, and popular culture. He is the author of The Fire Spreads: Holiness and Pentecostalism in the American South (Harvard University Press, 2008); The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age, co-authored with physicist Karl Giberson (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011); and editor of Recent Themes in American Religious History (University of South Carolina Press, 2009). His latest book is The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ’n’ Roll (Harvard University Press, 2018). Stephens has also written for the Atlantic, Salon, the Wilson Quarterly, Christian Century, Books & Culture, the Independent, History Today, the Chronicle of Higher Ed, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. He has been interviewed for news and culture programs on the BBC, Sky News, Al Jazeera, KBYU-FM 89.1, Austrian Youth Radio, and NPR. In 2011-12, he was a Fulbright Roving Scholar in Norway. Stephens is also one of the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturers. (See full CV here.)
Higher Education
- PhD, the University of Florida (2003)
Select Research Funding
- Wigeland Fellowship, University of Chicago (2020, postponed)
- The US Embassy London (2015 and 2018)
- National Endowment for the Humanities (2016)
- The John Templeton Foundation (2008, 2013-2014)
- The US- Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange (2011-2012)
- The Lilly Endowment (2002-2003 and 2007-2009)
- The Pew Foundation (2001)
MA and PhD Supervision
Randall is interested in supervising MAs and PHDs in: the history and culture of the US South; American political and cultural conservatism; American liberalism; American religious history; populism; British and American pop music and pop culture; America in the 20th century; the American civil rights movement; African-American history and culture; America in the 1960s; the Vietnam War; 19th century America; abolitionism and anti-slavery; British and American travel literature; American intellectual history; and American environmental history.
Publications
- Hardwick, Joseph & Stephens, Randall J. (2020). Acts of God: Continuities and change in Christian responses to extreme weather events from early modernity to the present. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change (WIRESs). ISSN 1757-7780. 00:e631, s 1- 16 . doi: 10.1002/wcc.631
- Stephens, Randall J. (2019). Spirit in the Air: Pentecostal and Holiness Media Innovation in the Twentieth-Century South, In Darren Grem; Ted Ownby & James G. Thomas (ed.), Southern Religion, Southern Culture: Essays Honoring Charles Reagan Wilson. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781496820471. Chapter 5. s 79 - 101
- Stephens, Randall J. (2018). “Culture, Entertainment, and Religion in America”, In John Corrigan (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion in America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0190456167. Chapter. s 17 - 38
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). "Popular Culture and Pentecostalism: Comparing Britain and the United States", In David Hempton & Hugh McCleod (ed.), Secularization and Religious Innovation in the North Atlantic World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198798071. Chapter 9. s 175 - 194
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). “Recent Developments in the Study of Religion in the US”. Journal of American Studies. ISSN 0021-8758. 51(1), s 205- 214 . doi: 10.1017/S0021875816001778
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). "The Bible and Fundamentalism", In Paul Gutjahr (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190258849. Chapter. s 575 - 590
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). “‘It has to come from the hearts of the people’: Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Race, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act”. Journal of American Studies. ISSN 0021-8758. 50(3), s 559- 585 . doi: 10.1017/S00211875815000687
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Of Gods, Presence, Abundant History, and the Challenges of Studying Everyday Religion". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. 48(2), s 113- 119
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Religious Liberty’ and the Origins of the Evangelical Persecution Complex". Religion Dispatches.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). “‘Where else did they copy their styles but from church groups?’ Rock ‘n’ Roll and Pentecostalism in the 1950s South”. Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. ISSN 0009-6407. 85(1), s 97- 131 . doi: 10.1017/S0009640715001365 Show summary
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "From Abolitionists to Fundamentalists: The Transformation of the Wesleyan Methodists in the 19th and 20th Centuries". American Nineteenth Century History. ISSN 1466-4658. 16(2), s 159- 191 . doi: 10.1080/14664658.2015.1078141 Show summary
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "Remembering Bertram Wyatt-Brown". Georgia Historical Quarterly. ISSN 0016-8297. 99(3), s 219- 223 . doi: 10.1353/hsp.2013.0003
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "Understanding the Prosperity Gospel". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. 47(2), s 55- 59
- Stephens, Randall J. (2011). "'Ohio villains’ and ‘pretenders to new revelations': Wesleyan Abolitionists in North Carolina and Virginia, 1847-1857", In Lisa Tendrich Frank & Daniel Kilbride (ed.), Southern Character: Essays in Honor of Bertram Wyatt-Brown. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0813036909. Chapter. s 73 - 88
- Stephens, Randall J. (2010). "The Holiness/Pentecostal/Charismatic Extension of the Wesleyan Tradition", In Jason E. Vickers & Randy L. Maddox (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521714036. Chapter. s 262 - 281
- Stephens, Randall J. (2009). "Introduction: Sam Jones--The Georgia Wonder", In Sam Jones' Own Book, 1886. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1570038279. Introduction. s xi - xxii
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "Interpreting American Pentecostal Origins: Retrospect and Prospect", In Keith Harper (ed.), American Denominational History: Perspectives on the Past, Prospects for the Future. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0817381082. Chapter. s 173 - 195
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "Pentecost for the Southland". Historically Speaking. ISSN 1941-4188. 9(3), s 27- 29
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "'There is Magic in Print': The Holiness Pentecostal Press and the Origins of Southern Pentecostalism", In Walter H. Conser & Rodger M. Payne (ed.), Southern Crossroads: Perspectives on Southern Religion and Culture. The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813124948. Chapter. s 194 - 230
- Stephens, Randall J. (2002). "'There is Magic in Print': The Holiness-Pentecostal Press and the Origins of Southern Pentecostalism". Journal of Southern Religion. ISSN 1094-5253. 5
- Stephens, Randall J. (2000). "The Convergence of Populism, Religion, and the Holiness Pentecostal Movements: A Review of the Historical Literature". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. 32(1), s 51- 64
- Stephens, Randall J. (2018). The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ’n’ Roll. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674980840. 336 s.
- Stephens, Randall J. & Giberson, Karl (2011). The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674048188. 384 s.
- Jones, Sam & Stephens, Randall J. (2009). Sam Jones' Own Book, 1886. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1570038279. 539 s.
- Stephens, Randall J. (ed.) (2009). Recent Themes in American Religious History. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781570038693. 160 s.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). The Fire Spreads: Holiness and Pentecostalism in the American South. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674046856. 416 s.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020). "A Conversation on the 2020 US Election with Former US Ambassador to Norway Barry White and Randall J. Stephens".
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 16. september). "Christian Worship Leader Brings Controversial Prayer Rallies to Cities Roiled by Protests" by Marisa Iati and Sarah Pulliam Bailey. Washington Post.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 26. oktober). Da Gud ble republikaner av Morten S. Smedsrud. [Tidsskrift]. Apollon.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 26. oktober). Forstår nordmenn og norske journalister USA? Av Bård Amundsen, Siw Ellen Jakobsen og Marte Dæhlen. [Internett]. Forskning.no.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 23. oktober). Går i samme kirke, men nå truer hudfargen samholdet av Alice Tegle. Korsets Seier.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020). "In Storms, Americans Have Long Seen the Hand of God". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 13. oktober). Konservative kristne tilgir Trumps synder av Mari Lilleslåtten. [Internett]. Det humanistiske fakultet forskning.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020). "Searching for Signs that God Blessed America". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020). "Southern Elites, Western Libertarians, and the Conservative Coalition". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 29. oktober). Trump hopper frem på meningsmålingene: – Ikke nødvendigvis dramatisk av Henrik Røyne. VG.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2020, 02. desember). "Why Some Evangelicals Refuse To Acknowledge That Trump Has Lost The Election" by Carol Kuruvilla. [Internett]. HuffPost.
- Bereza, Sarah & Stephens, Randall J. (2019, 12. mars). "The Devil's Music, an Interview with Author Randall J. Stephens". [Radio]. Music and the Church, St. Louis, Missouri.
- Soden, Greg & Stephens, Randall J. (2019, 10. april). "The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock n’ Roll". [Radio]. New Books Network, Northampton, MA.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2019). "Hillbilly Hellraisers: Federal Power and Populist Defiance in the Ozarks. By J. Blake Perkins". Journal of Social History. ISSN 0022-4529. Fall 2019 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shy043
- Stephens, Randall J. & Stephens, Hilde Løvdal (2019). «Guds mann i Det hvite». Kirke og kultur. ISSN 0023-186X. 123(2), s 111- 122 . doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3002-2019-02-02
- Bjørdal, Sondre & Stephens, Randall J. (2018, 31. desember). «Den fordømte musikken». Vårt Land.
- Fea, John & Stephens, Randall J. (2018, 05. juli). "Jesus Is the Rock That Rolls My Blues Away". [Radio]. The Way of Improvement Leads Home.
- Jære, Lisbet & Stephens, Randall J. (2018, 30. oktober). «Djevelens musikk – som ble kristen». [Internett]. Uniforum.
- Miller, Eric C. & Stephens, Randall J. (2018, 02. april). "The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ‘n’ Roll". [Internett]. Religion Dispatches.
- Smith, Marcus & Stephens, Randall J. (2018, 15. juni). "Randall Stephens: How Christians Came to Embrace Rock & Roll". [Radio]. Thinking Aloud, KBYU-FM, Provo, Utah.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2018). "Author’s Response to Peter Webster’s Review of The Devil’s Music". Reviews in History. ISSN 1749-8155.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2018). "Evangelicals and Trump—Lessons from the Nixon Era". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2018). “God Gave Rock and Roll to You”. History Today. ISSN 0018-2753.
- Trollinger, William & Stephens, Randall J. (2018, 20. februar). "The Devil's Music, Parts I and II". [Internett]. Righting America, Dayton, Ohio.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). "Assemblies of God", In Charles Reagan Wilson; Ted Ownby; Ann J. Abadie; Odie Lindsey & James G. Thomas (ed.), The Mississippi Encyclopedia. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1628466928. Entry. s 49 - 51
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). "Richard Nixon’s Authoritarian Loathing of the Media Lives on in Donald Trump". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). "The Klan, White Christianity, and the Past and Present: A Response to Kelly Baker’s Essay". Religion & Culture Forum.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2017). "The Sacred Mirror: Evangelicalism, Honor, and Identity in the Deep South, 1790–1860. By Robert Elder". The Journal of the Civil War Era. ISSN 2154-4727. 7(2), s 318- 321
- Taylor-Rosner, Noémie & Stephens, Randall J. (2017, 08. mars). «Fausses nouvelles, un phénomène aux ancrages chrétiens». Présence information religieuse, Quebec, Canada.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Embracing the ‘Silent Majority’–Donald Trump Brings Back the Worst of 1960s America". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). “Miranda Wilcox and John D. Young, eds., Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy". Mormon Studies Review. ISSN 2156-8022. 3, s 174- 178
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "On Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Michael O’Brien, and Southern Distinctiveness". US Intellectual History Blog.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Ted Cruz, Human Dog Whistle". Salon.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Ted Cruz, Not Donald Trump, Is the Scariest Candidate Standing". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Trump and Palin Exist in an Alternative Universe of Knowledge Denial". Independent. ISSN 0951-9467.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2016). "Trump is an Avowed Sinner—So Why Did American Evangelicals Vote for Him?". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and Race in the Cold War Era". Religion in American History.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "GOP Must Destroy Donald Trump before He Destroys Them". Salon.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "How the Republican Party Became a Haven of Resentment and Rage". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2015). "Why the Republicans' Know-Nothing Outsider Candidates Are Still on Top". The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
- McAuley, Roisin & Stephens, Randall J. (2014, 04. november). "The Devil's Music". [Radio]. Sunday Sequence, BBC Ulster.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2014). "David Brat, the Anti-experts’ Expert". Christian Century. ISSN 0009-5281.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2014). "Searching for Something in a Kansas Record Bin". Reverberations.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2014). "Unbucklin’ that Ole Bible Belt: Learning about the Solid Religious South from Freaks, Geeks, Outcasts, Losers, Wide-Eyed Prophets, Cranks, and Mountebanks". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. 46(1), s 66- 69
- Beneke, Chris & Stephens, Randall J. (2013). "Why Republicans and Academics Need Each Other". The Chronicle of higher education. ISSN 0009-5982.
- Remillard, Art & Stephens, Randall J. (2013, 26. mars). "Podcast Episode 16: Interview with Randall Stephens". [Internett]. Journal of Southern Religion. Show summary
- Stephens, Randall J. (2013). "High Holy Rollers". The Wilson Quarterly - WQ. ISSN 0363-3276. Summer 2013
- Stephens, Randall J. (2013). "Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind by Mark A. Noll". Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. ISSN 0009-6407. 82(2), s 507- 508
- Beneke, Chris & Stephens, Randall J. (2012). "Lies the Debunkers Told Me: How Bad History Books Win Us Over". Atlantic Monthly. ISSN 1072-7825.
- Giberson, Karl & Stephens, Randall J. (2012). "Conservative Christianity and Its Discontents". Religion Dispatches.
- Jakobsen, Hanne Østli & Stephens, Randall J. (2012, 26. mars). «Den religiøse populismens valgkamp». [Internett]. Forskning.no.
- Restad, Hilde Eliassen & Stephens, Randall J. (2012, 29. mai). «De kristenkonservatives innflytelse i amerikansk politikk». Aftenposten.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2012). "J. Brooks Flippen, Jimmy Carter, the Politics of Family, and the Rise of the Religious Right. By J. Brooks Flippen. American Historical Review. ISSN 0002-8762. 117(5), s 1626- 1627 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/117.5.1626a
- Stephens, Randall J. (2012). No Sympathy for the Devil: Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism. By David W. Stowe. The Journal of southern history. ISSN 0022-4642. 78(4), s 1040- 1041
- Barabak, Mark Z. & Stephens, Randall J. (2011, 13. februar). "A Scathing Critique of FDR". Los Angeles Times.
- Giberson, Karl & Stephens, Randall J. (2011). "The Evangelical Rejection of Reason". New York Times, USA.
- Gluss, Howard & Stephens, Randall J. (2011, 26. august). "Dr. Randall J. Stephens on Right Wing America: Evangelicals, Conservative Christians, and Christian Psychologists". [Radio]. The Dr. Howard Gluss Show, Phoenix, Arizona.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2011). "On Teaching with God in America (PBS)". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. 43(2), s 103- 106
- Stephens, Randall J. (2011). "The Sunbelt Coalition: Evangelicals and Politics in a New Light". Books & Culture. ISSN 1082-8931. January/February
- Stephens, Randall J. (2011). "Tocqueville’s Discovery of America, by Leo Damrosch". Christian Century. ISSN 0009-5281.
- Zoll, Rachel & Stephens, Randall J. (2011, 19. oktober). "Election-year Goals of Christian Group Questioned". The Des Moines Register, Iowa.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2010). "After Redemption: Jim Crow and the Transformation of African American Religion in the Delta, 1875-1915. By John M. Giggie". The Journal of southern history. ISSN 0022-4642. 76(1), s 173- 174
- Stephens, Randall J. (2010). "Billy Graham and the Rise of the Republican South. By Steven P. Miller". Journal of American History. ISSN 0021-8723. 97(1), s 264- 265
- Stephens, Randall J. (2010). "New Media and the Reshaping of Religious Practice". The Immanent Frame [blog].
- Stephens, Randall J. (2010). "The Old New Right". Christian Century. ISSN 0009-5281.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2010). "The Past Is No Foreign Country". History News Network.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2009). "Devout Racism". Christian Century. ISSN 0009-5281.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "Fuller, William Edward, Sr.", In Henry Louis Gates & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (ed.), The African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195160192. Entry.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "Johnny Cash’s Very American Recordings". Christianity Today. ISSN 0009-5753.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "Lowery, Irving E. (1850 - 1929), Print Journalist, Autobiographer / Memoirist, Educator, Methodist Episcopal Clergy", In Henry Louis Gates & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (ed.), The African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195160192. Entry.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2008). "What Does Azusa Have to Do with Washington?". The Immanent Frame [blog].
- Stephens, Randall J. (2007). "A. J. Tomlinson: Plainfolk Modernist. By R. G. Robins". Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. ISSN 0009-6407. 76(3), s 659- 661
- Stephens, Randall J. (2007). "Bearing Witness against Sin: The Evangelical Birth of the American Social Movement. By Michael P. Young". H-SHEAR. December
- Stephens, Randall J. (2007). "Righteous Indignation: Religion and the Populist Revolution. By Joe Creech". Journal of Peasant Studies. ISSN 0306-6150. 34(2)
- Stephens, Randall J. & Case, Delvyn (2006). "Hidden Under a Bushel: Sufjan Stevens and the Problem of Christian Music". Books & Culture. ISSN 1082-8931. November/December
- Stephens, Randall J. (2005). "Christian and Missionary Alliance", In Samuel Hill & Charles H. Lippy (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Mercer University Press. ISBN 0865547580. Entry.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2005). "Fire-Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas", In Samuel Hill & Charles H. Lippy (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Mercer University Press. ISBN 0865547580. Entry.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2005). "Jones, Charles Price", In Samuel Hill & Charles H. Lippy (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Mercer University Press. ISBN 0865547580. Entry.
- Stephens, Randall J. (2005). "Redeeming the Dial: Radio Religion, and Popular Culture in America. By Tona J. Hangen". Gulf South Historical Review. ISSN 0892-9025. Spring
- Stephens, Randall J. (2005). "Tell about the South: The 2005 Conference of the St. George Tucker Society". Historically Speaking. ISSN 1941-4188. September/October
- Stephens, Randall J. (2004). "Mountain Holiness: A Photographic Narrative. By Deborah Vansau McCauley, Laura A. Porter, and Patricia Parker Brunner". Religious Studies Review. ISSN 0319-485X. 30(4)
- Stephens, Randall J. (2004). "Selling the Old-Time Religion: American Fundamentalists and Mass Culture, 1920-1940. By Douglas Carl Abrams". H-South. September
- Stephens, Randall J. (2002). "Close Harmony: A History of Southern Gospel. By James R. Goff". H-South. August
- Stephens, Randall J. (2002). "Hallelujah Lads and Lassies: Remaking the Salvation Army in America, 1880-1930. By Lillian Taiz". Religious Studies Review. ISSN 0319-485X. July
- Stephens, Randall J. (2002). "Rebuilding Zion: The Religious Reconstruction of the South, 1863- 1877. By Daniel W. Stowell". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. Winter/Spring
- Stephens, Randall J. (2002). "The Serpent Handlers: Three Families and Their Faith. By Fred Brown and Jeanne McDonald". The Southern Historian. Spring
- Stephens, Randall J. (2001). "A Wheel within a Wheel: Southern Methodism and the Georgia Holiness Association. By Briane Turley". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. Winter/Spring
- Stephens, Randall J. (2001). "Barry W. Hamilton, William Baxter Godbey: Itinerant Apostle of the Holiness Movement". Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. ISSN 2161-0355. Autumn
- Stephens, Randall J. (2000). "Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities among Southern Baptists, 1865-1925. By Paul Harvey". Fides et Historia. ISSN 0884-5379. Winter/Spring