Jana Riess

Jana Kathryn Riess (born December 13, 1969) is an American professor, writer, and editor. Riess' writings have focused on American religions, especially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) of which she is a member, and other new religious movements.

Early life and education

As she describes in her own autobiographical writings, Riess was born in the Midwestern United States, and has an older brother, John. Note, the unique spelling of the first word of the book's title is as it is presented by the author, on the title page of the book. She and her mother Phyllis were, per her description, abandoned by her father without warning in 1984, by which time her brother was on his own. Riess has described her father, who died at age 71 in Mobile, Alabama, in October 2010, as "an angry atheist" and her mother as "considerably more charitable but no more interested in organized religion."

Riess has a Bachelor's degree from Wellesley College, a Master's degree in theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary, and a PhD in American Religious studies from Columbia University.

Career

Riess is an expert on religion in literature. As of this date, Riess is a Religion and American Studies professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

From 1999 to 2008 she was the religion book editor for ''Publishers Weekly''.

A member of the LDS Church, Riess has spoken at Brigham Young University Women's Conference and other gatherings of the LDS Church, as well as professional conferences.

Writings

Riess' 2019 ''The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church'', received critical praise; Phil Zuckerman, a professor of sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, describes the work as " ciologically sound, extremely well-researched and well-written".

Riess and her colleague Benjamin Knoll published a landmark analysis which questioned the accuracy of reports that LDS membership was growing.

Tweeting the Bible

On October 4, 2009, Riess began a project to tweet the bible. Her "Twible" quest concluded in January 2013. Each tweet summarizes a chapter of the bible. Riess tweets the bible in order and plans to hit all 1,189 chapters in 140 characters. She later published it in book form as ''The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less . . . Now with 68% More Humor!''

Other work

In July 2001 Riess moderated a debate between Richard Abanes and Connie Neal at a convention of Christian retailers over the "real religious concern" over the ''Harry Potter'' books with regard to their presentation of witchcraft and aspects of the occult. Among the books by Riess are the 2004 '' What Would Buffy Do?'', and an abridgment of the Book of Mormon with commentary.

As of 2017, she was conducting "The Next Mormons" survey project to look at how different generations of Mormons have interacted with the Church.

Personal life

Riess is a convert to the LDS Church. She is married to Phil Smith, and they reside in Cincinnati..

Works

;Books

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;Articles

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;Other

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References

External links

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"Flunking Sainthood" blog
on Beliefnet

The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching – Jana Riess' blog

@janariess on Twitter

''FARMS Review'' on Riess' abridgment of the Book of Mormon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riess, Jana
1969 births
American Latter Day Saint writers
American religion academics
Columbia University alumni
Converts to Mormonism
Living people
Mormon studies scholars
Mormon memoirists
Writers from Cincinnati
Princeton Theological Seminary alumni
Wellesley College alumni
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Latter Day Saints from Ohio