Assistant Professor of Sociology Jeremy Thomas specializes in research areas as controversial as they come.
“My research interests primarily concern religion, sex, deviance and the body,” said Thomas.
Thomas, new at Idaho State University since fall of 2012, received his doctorate from Purdue University last year. His current research focuses on pornography viewing, specifically by evangelical Christians, and what impact that has on marital satisfaction and happiness.
“People view pornography at high rates, regardless of religious affiliation or relationship status,” said Thomas. “I’m interested in what that means for relationships and what it means in society as a whole.”
Thomas has an article that will soon be published in the “Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion” titled “Outsourcing Moral Authority: The Internal Secularization of Evangelicals’ Anti-Pornography Narratives.”
He is also planning a study this fall on husbands’ views regarding the ramifications of their pornography viewing on their marriages. Much of Thomas’s past work has focused on homosexuality and the evolving evangelical Christian attitude.
“I think a lot of my work will focus on this intersection of religion and sexuality,” said Thomas. “More broadly I’m interested in deviance.”
Deviance includes many behaviors, such as body modification, self-injury and non-traditional sexual behaviors like sexual abuse, viewing pornography and bondage, domination, submission and masochism (BDSM).
A primary question in sociology, he said, is “who gets to define what’s normal and what’s weird.” In the United States this question has been framed in religion, according to Thomas.
“I’ve done a lot of work in how society is changing,” he said.
Thomas said sexuality is an interesting sociological subject because it focuses heavily on individual experience, and frequently this experience is regulated by religion.
Thomas is currently teaching Introduction to Sociology, Social Diversity and Everyday Ethnography.
“There’s no doubt that my research is probably a tad bit controversial, and that’s okay,” said Thomas. “I would like for us to think holistically and explain what that means.”
Due to the large population of Latter Day Saints alongside a politically diverse and non-religious population, Thomas said Pocatello is a great location to study the interplay between religion and sexuality.
“I love Pocatello and ISU has been a great time as well,” he said. “I think I ended up here because it was a really good match, both with the department and the broader university.”
Thomas described ISU and Pocatello as places where individuals are comfortable in being themselves and are at the same time able to interact with very different kinds of people. Extensive political and religious diversity contributes to this atmosphere.
“We don’t all have to see the world in the same way,” said Thomas.
