Professor
Fields of Interest
Research
Selected Research
- Pfaff, Steven and Michael Hechter. 2020. The Genesis of Rebellion: Governance, Grievance and Mutiny in the Age of Sail. Cambridge University Press.
- Wurpts, Bernd, Katie E. Corcoran, and Steven Pfaff. 2018. “The Diffusion of Protestantism in Northern Europe: Historical Embeddedness and Complex Contagions in the Adoption of the Reformation.” Social Science History 42(2):213-244.
- Hechter, Michael, Steven Pfaff and Patrick Underwood. 2016. “Grievances and the Genesis of Rebellion: AnAnalysis of Mutiny in the Royal Navy, 1740-1820”, American Sociological Review 81/1: 165-89.
- Marion Goldman and Steven Pfaff. 2014. “Reconsidering Virtuosity: Religious Innovation and Spiritual Privilege”, Sociological Theory 32/2: 128-46.
- Pfaff, Steven, Michael Hechter and Katie E. Corcoran. Forthcoming, “The Problem of Solidarity in Insurgent Collective Action: The Nore Mutiny of 1797.” Social Science History.
Research Advised
- Jabbarli, Ramin. 2021. "Making and Transcending Boundaries: The Effect of Ritual on the Nationalism among Dominant and Subordinate Ethnicities in the Near East." M.A. Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Guler, Selen. 2019. "The Good, The Bad, and The Taxed: How Taxes Shape Morals in Markets." M.A. Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Mondesir, Raphael. 2018. "Civic Participation in Indonesia: Islam, Community, and Rural Development." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Wurpts, Bernd. 2018. "Networks into Institutions or Institutions into Networks? Evidence from the Medieval Hansa." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- O'Brien, Michelle L. 2018. "The Long Shadow: The Long-Term Consequences of Armed Conflict for Population Change in Tajikistan." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Merklinghaus, Carter A. 2018. "To Use or Not to Use? Substance Abuse and Post-9/11 Veterans: The Impact of Military Service on the Life Course." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Karceski, Steven M. 2017. "Political Institutions and Carbon Taxation." M.A. Thesis. Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Tomczuk, Sara Jean. 2017. "Environment of Tension, Moments of Conflict: A Comparative Study of Majority-Roma Interethnic Relations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia." PhD Dissertation. Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Underwood, Patrick. 2016. "Conflict and Stability in the Neoliberal Era: Explaining Urban Unrest in Latin America." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Kistner, Kelly. 2014. "Organizing Knowledge: Comparative Structures of Intersubjectivity in Nineteenth-Century Historical Dictionaries." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Powers, Erin. 2014. "Individual-Group Dynamics in a 12-Step Fellowship: Identification, Service, and Recovery in Overeaters Anonymous." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Pettinicchio, David. 2012. "From the Government to the Streets: Why the U.S. is a Policy Innovator in Disability Rights." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Corcoran, Katie E. 2012. "Religious Capital as Human, Cultural, Social, and Emotional: Toward a Sociological Theory of Membership Dynamics in Religious Voluntary Associations." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Kabiri, Nika. 2012. "Tribal Durability: Explaining Autonomy Among the Pashtun Frontier Tribes." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Valdez, Sarah. 2011. "Neonationalism in Scandinavia: Immigration, Segregation, and Anti-Immigrant Voting in Denmark and Sweden." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Eger, Maureen A. 2010. "Ethnic Heterogeneity and the Limits of Altruism." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Wollschleger, Jason. 2010. "Organization and Religious Participation: Solving Collective Action Problems at the Congregational Level." PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
- Haskett, Breon. 2020. "The Right To Work For Less: The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unfair Labor Practice Filing at the NLRB." M.A. Thesis. Department of Sociology, University of Washington.
Courses Taught
Autumn 2023
Spring 2023
Winter 2023
Autumn 2022
- SOC 316 A: Introduction to Sociological Theory
- SOC 501 A: Proseminar
- SOC 510 A: Seminar in Sociological Theory
Spring 2022
Autumn 2021
Winter 2021
Affiliations
Home Department
Related News
Related News
- Steve Pfaff's Op-Ed in the Washington Post Highlights His Research on Discrimination Against Muslim and Atheist Families in US Schools (September 14, 2020)
- In the News: Williams and Pfaff Describe Impact of GOP Tax bill on Graduate Education at UW in Seattle Times op-ed (December 11, 2017)
- The Spirtual Virtuoso: Personal Faith and Social Transformation. By Steve Pfaff and Marion Goldman, reviewed by Susan Pitchford (November 28, 2017)
- On the Quincentennial of Luther's 95 theses, Steve Pfaff discusses how Luther's spiritual practice helped spread the Reformation. (October 30, 2017)
- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. Recommended by Steve Pfaff (September 20, 2017)