C. Lynn Carr is a Professor of Sociology at Seton Hall University, specializing in contemporary identity formations with a focus on religion, gender, and sexuality. She holds a Ph.D. and teaches courses on sociological topics ranging from qualitative methods to American societal structures. Her research examines how individuals navigate religious practices within multicultural contexts, particularly in Jewish Reconstructionist communities and Afro-Cuban Lukumi traditions. Carr has authored two major books: Facing Death Together: Shiva in a Jewish Reconstructionist Community (2023) and A Year in White: Cultural Newcomers to Lukumi and Santería in the U.S. (2016), which explore mourning rituals and religious boundary-crossing respectively. Her scholarly work spans three decades, addressing intersections between gender, sexuality, and identity through qualitative methodologies. Carr has reviewed over 20 books for venues like Reading Religion and H-Net , critically engaging topics such as modern Jewish identity, Orthodox Jewish conversion, and Afro-Caribbean religious practices. Awards include the prestigious Jack Shand Research Grant. Carr’s teaching portfolio includes courses on deviance, race/ethnicity, and social inequalities. While no lab affiliations are explicitly noted, her fieldwork-based research demonstrates deep engagement with community ethnography. Her work consistently bridges theoretical frameworks from social constructionism to emotion sociology with empirical case studies.
