Dr. Madsen is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego, where he has also served as Chair of the Program in Chinese Studies. A graduate of Maryknoll College, and having received his Master's in Theology (S.T.M.) from Maryknoll Seminary, he also earned his Master's and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. Dr. Madsen is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
World renowned as one of the authors of the celebrated Habits of the Heart (1985) and The Good Society (1990), Dr. Madsen is also highly regarded for his innovative work on contemporary China. He is currently working on a book entitled The World of God:The Catholic Church and Civil Society in China. In this research study. Dr. Madsen analyzes the resurgence of Catholicism during the period of "reform and opening," the split between the "official" and "underground" Churches, the differences between urban and rural Catholicism, and question of whether the Chinese Catholic Church can contribute to the formation of a civil society in China. In addition, he recently published China and the American Dream: A Moral Inquiry and has authored numerous other books, articles, and reviews on the sociology of ideas and culture, political sociology, Chinese society, and the sociology of religion.
Dr. Madsen serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and has been on the Editorial Board for Chinese Sociology and Anthropology. He has been a consultant for the Maryknoll Fathers in the Mission Research and Planning Department. In addition, he has served in a number of professional organizations, including the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China, the China and Inner Asia Council (CIAC) of the Association for Asian Studies, and the History of Christianity in China Project, which was funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Currently, he is a member of the Executive Board of The Missionary Impulse in American History Project, funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, and is an active participant in workshops on civil society and religion sponsored by the World Council of Churches and other groups. Dr. Madsen is also the Associate Director of the Center for Democratization and Economic Development (CDED) at UCSD. The mission of CDED is to improve the understanding of the interrelationship between economic and political change in comparative historical perspective, and thereby to contribute to the resolution the most pressing problems afflicting that relationship at home and abroad.
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