Daniel Vaca

Daniel Vaca is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Brown University, specializing in the intersection of religion and economic life in North America. His research explores how religious identities and institutions are shaped by commercial activities, particularly through the lens of the evangelical publishing industry and the history of taxation.

He earned his PhD from Columbia University (2012), with prior degrees from the University of Cambridge and the College of William & Mary. His book *Evangelicals Incorporated: Books and the Business of Religion in America* (Harvard, 2019) examines how evangelicalism’s prominence emerged through corporate and commercial strategies, winning the MLA’s 2020 Matei Calinescu Prize honorable mention. Current research focuses on the religious dimensions of U.S. taxation history, conducted as a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Charles Warren Center (2020-2021).

Teaching includes courses like *Sacred Economy: Religion and Capitalism in the U.S.* and *Religious Freedom in America*. He co-chaired the American Academy of Religion’s Religion and Economy program unit (2015–2022) and contributed to *A Universe of Terms*, a digital project on religious studies concepts.

Awards include the Hazeltine Senior Citation for Teaching (2019) and the Richard B. Salomon Research Award. His work bridges religious history, business studies, and cultural analysis, challenging assumptions about the relationship between faith and market forces.