F. Carson Mencken is professor of sociology, Director of Graduate Studies and Research Director for the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He received his BS degree summa cum laude from the College of Charleston (SC) in 1987, and his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1994. His areas of research expertise include regional sociology, criminology and research methods. Recently, with Dr. Christopher Bader, Dr. Mencken has been pursuing research which links civic engagement, religious communities, and economic growth. He has authored over 30 professional publications. He has received competitive grant funding for his research from such sources as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the United States Department of the Interior, the United States Department of Justice, and the John Templeton Foundation. He is the Project Director for the Empirical Study of Values in China. Prior to joining the faculty at Baylor University, Dr. Mencken served as the Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at West Virginia University.

He and his family are actively involved with the Central Presbyterian Church of Waco and he also spends time coaching Little League baseball and Pop Warner football.

Book Manuscripts

2010 Paranormal America: Ghost encounters, UFO sightings, Bigfoot hunts and other Curiositie sin Religion and Culture with Christopher Bader and Joseph Baker, NYU Press.

Recent Publications:

2012 with Troy Blanchard and Charles Tolbert. "The Health and Wealth of U.S. Counties: How the Small Business Environment Impacts Alternative Measures of Development" Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society 5: 149-162.

2011 with He Rong."Judged by Karma: Belief in Karma and Social-Economic Status in Contemporary China" Religious Cultures in the World 65: 14-21 (Chinese language).

2011 With Wes Hinze and Charles Tolbert. "From Obama to Osama: Image of God and Trust in Muslims among the Highly Religious in the United States." Sociological Focus 44 (1):18-36.

2010 Bader, Christopher, Scott Desmond, F. Carson Mencken and Byron Johnson. "Divine Justice: How Images of God Impact Attitudes toward Criminal Punishment." Criminal Justice Review 35: 90-106.

2010 Liu, Yang and F. Carson Mencken "Fatalistic Voluntarism and Life Happiness in Post-Socialist China." Sociological Spectrum 30: 270 – 288.

Mencken, F. Carson, Christopher D. Bader, and Ye Jung Kim. 2009. "Round Trip to Hell in a Flying Saucer: The Relationship between Conventional Christian and Paranormal Beliefs in the United States." Sociology of Religion. 70:1 65-85

Paul Froese and F. Carson Mencken. 2009. "An American Holy War? The Connection between Religious Ideology and Neo-Conservative Iraq War Attitudes." Social Science Quarterly. 90(1)

F. Carson Mencken, Christopher Bader, Elizabeth Embry. 2009. "In God We Trust: Images Of God And Trust In The United States Among the Highly Religious." Sociological Perspectives, 52(1):23-38

F. Carson Mencken, Christopher D. Bader, and Rodney Stark. 2008. "Conventional Christina Beliefs and Experimentation With The Paranormal." Review of Religious Research. 50(2): 194-205.

2007 with Christopher Bader and Paul Froese "American Piety 2005: Content, Methods, and Selected Results from the Baylor Religion Survey." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 46(4): 447-463.

2007 with Larry Lyon, Michael Beaty, and James Parker "The Professionalization of Faculty at Religious Colleges and Universities" Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion. 46:87-100.

Awards and Honors:

2007 GSA Outstanding Director of Graduate Studies Award, Baylor University

2005 GSA Outstanding Graduate Faculty Teaching Award, Baylor University

"Civic Engagement and County Economic Growth in Appalachia during the 1990s" Co-authored with Chris Bader and Clay Polson received the Southwestern Sociological Association Distinguished Paper Award for 2005.

Welfare Reform in West Virginia, West Virginia University Press, Honorable Mention, ForeWord Magazine's 2004 Book of the Year Award.

The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences (West Virginia University) Outstanding Researcher Award 1999-2000.