about me

I am Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago, where I also direct the Center for International Social Science Research. I recently completed a 5-year term as director of sociology’s undergraduate program, and I chair the Global Society Core sequence for the Social Sciences.

My training is in two areas: social demography & the sociology of religion. Bridging these two fields, my work features the demographer’s characteristic concern with data quality and denominators and an insistence on connecting demographic processes to questions of meaning.

Before moving to UChicago, I was an Assistant Professor at The Pennsylvania State University and at Arizona State University, where I was affiliated with the Center for Population Dynamics (sadly, now defunct).

I was trained at The University of Texas at Austin’s Sociology Department and Population Research Center and received my BA from Marquette University.

pronunciation guide

I am a true “Jenny” (i.e., not a Jennifer). Last name is pronounced: tri-ni-TA-po-li.