Jason John Burtt, PhD

Sessional Assistant Professor of Sociology
I enjoy getting to know students and learning from their experiences. Learning is a process of sharing, listening, and questioning. New knowledge comes from quiet contemplation, reading, and interaction with the natural world, but also through group dialogue and debate. Whatever the case, learning never happens in a vacuum. It is a social phenomenon.

 

The big powder days at Whistler draw thousands of shredders to the slopes, and when he can carve out the time, Jason is there. He lives near Vancouver, BC with his wife and three daughters, who brighten up the usually rainy days of the Lower Mainland. Dr. Burtt is an ordained minister with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC). He reads history and watches SpaceX launch rockets. He’s also trying to get up the discipline to run another marathon. Prior to his foray into sociology, Jason was a youth pastor and worship leader. The transition to teaching at TWU has been (super)natural and exciting.

 

“What is a person without Thee! What is all that they know, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if they do not know Thee! What is all their striving, could it even encompass the world, but a half-finished work if they do not know Thee: Thee the One, who art one thing and who art all!”

- Søren Kierkegaard in Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing

  • PhD Sociology, Dissertation Title: “Ego-Tribalism in Religion, Politics, and Media: A Changing Landscape Calls for a New Theory of Trust” (Baylor University; 2022)
  • MA Sociology (Baylor University; 2019)
  • MA Theological Studies (Regent College; 2014)
  • BA Religion and Philosophy (Northwest University; 2007)

Expertise

My research interests include the following: Social Trust, Technology, Sociology of Religion, Social Psychology, Positive Sociology - on the nature of group flourishing in various contexts, including those that are culturally and religiously homogenous and those that are diverse and pluralistic.

  • Collegeville Institute, Saint John’s University - Project: Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose (CLMPI); Case Studies: Congregations in BC and WA; Funding by Lilly Endowment, Inc.; Nancy Ammerman, PhD, & Roman Williams, PhD, principal investigators
  • Flourishing Congregations Institute, Ambrose University - Project: Flourishing Congregations; Case Studies in BC and WA; Funding by SSRCH and CCCU grants; Joel Thiessen, PhD, & Michael Wilkinson, PhD, principal investigators

Recent Publications

  • Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=8CinhbgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
  • Matthew Lee Anderson, J. J. Burtt, Sung Joon Jang, Karen Booyens, Byron R. Johnson, Michael Joseph. 2022. Religion and Responsibility-Taking among Offenders in Colombia and South Africa: A Qualitative Assessment of a Faith-Based Program in Prison. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.
  • J. J. Burtt, Rory Jones, Jonathan Cox, Dahron Mize, Kevin D. Dougherty, Perry L. Glanzer & Sarah A. Schnitker. 2022. Factors Associated with Vertical and Horizontal Faith Maturity at a Christian University, Journal of Research on Christian Education, 31:1, 70-87
  • Uecker, J. E., Bonhag, R., Burtt, J. J., Evans, H. R., & Hernandez, A. D. 2021. Religion and Attitudes toward Childlessness in the United States. Journal of Family Issues, 43(1), 186–214.
  • Burtt, J. J. 2021. “Book Review of The Subversive Evangelical: The Ironic Charisma of an Irreligious Megachurch by Peter J. Schuurman,” Review of Religious Research 63, 629-631.

Affiliations & Memberships

  • Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR)
  • Association for the Study of Economics, Religion, and Culture(ASREC)
  • Canadian Sociological Association (CSA)
  • Cultural Evolution Society(CES)
  • Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR)
  • Southwestern Social Science Association (SSSA)

  • FNDN 101 The Liberal Arts Journey
  • SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology
  • SOCI 221 Sociology of Family
  • SOCI 252 Contemporary Social Issues
  • SOCI 318 Technology and Social Change (SP24)
  • SOCI 331 Sociology of Religion
  • SOCI 383 / GENV 383 Social Data Analysis (Statistics for Social Science)
  • SOCI 390 Positive Sociology