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Dr. Joseph Laycock

  • Professor - Philosophy
Portrait of Dr. Joseph Laycock

Biography and expertise

Joseph Laycock is an associate professor of religious studies at Texas State University. He holds a MTS from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD from Boston University. He has written several books on new religious movements and American religious history. He is also a co-editor for the journal Nova Religio. He currently serves on the Programming Committee for the American Academy of Religion.

Education

Doctorate Degree

PhD in Religious Studies

Boston University, 2012

Master's Degree

MTS in Religious Studies

Harvard University, 2005

Bachelor's Degree

BA in Applied Religion

Hampshire College, 2002

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Laycock, J. P. (2025). The Penguin Book of Cults. Penguin Classics.
  • LAYCOCK, J. P. (2022). New Religious Movements: The Basics. United States: Routledge.
  • Laycock, J. P. (2018). Vampirism: Modern Vampires and Embattled Identity Claims. In The Supernatural in Society, Culture, and History (pp. 177–189). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
  • Laycock, J. P. (2015). Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds. University of California Press.
  • Laycock, J. P. (2014). The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken, a Marian Apparition, and the Struggle to Define Catholic Tradition. Oxford University Press.
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: University Humanities Research Excellence Award, Texas State University. March 1, 2025 - August 22, 2025
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, Favorite Professor, Spring 2016., Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, Alfred H. Nolle Chapter. May 1, 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities (Philosophy), Texas State University College of Liberal Arts. 2015
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Golden Apple Award for Scholarly/Creative Activity, Texas State University. 2015
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Tenth Annual Thomas Robbins Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements. 2012
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  1. Other

    TGH Litigation LLC

  2. Organizer

    Religious Studies Program Coordinator

  3. Member

    Curriculum Committee

  4. Member

    Research Committee

  5. Member

    AAR Guide Star for Undergraduate Religious Literacy

  6. Editor

    Nova Religio

  7. View all activities