Marion Sherman "Mimi" Goldman (born July 31, 1945) is an American sociologist who is

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Her research specialties include new religious movements (

cults Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

and

sociology of gender Sociology of gender is a subfield of sociology. As one of the most important social structures is status (position that an individual possesses which effects how they are treated by society). One of the most important statuses an individual cla ...

.University of Oregon : Department of Sociology

Publications

She has written four books, including ''Gold Diggers and Silver Miners: Prostitution and Social Life on the Comstock Lode,'' a study of frontier prostitution. Her most recent book ''The American Soul Rush: Esalen and the Rise of Spiritual Privilege'' considers how seekers at the

Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American Retreat (spiritual), retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanism, humanistic alternative education. The institute played a ke ...

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

transformed American spirituality and

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

through their economic, social, and spiritual privilege. Her book, ''Passionate Journeys: Why Successful Women Joined a Cult,'' describes

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian godman, philosopher, mystic and founder of the Rajneesh movement. He was viewed ...

’s communal city in central Oregon and the high-achieving women and men who followed him there. The book revolves around composite lives of four women—a rich housewife, a feminist community social worker, and a high fashion model—who gave up their high powered careers to follow Rajneesh. She has also co-edited two books, written numerous scholarly articles and chapters, and served on the editorial boards of ''Sociology of Religion'' and the ''

Journal of Religion and Violence The ''Journal of Religion and Violence'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the study of religion and violence. It publishes analyses of contemporary and historical religious groups involved in violent incidents, as well as studies on sa ...

.'' Goldman has been featured on a number of television programs, notably the History Channel’s ''Wild West Tech'' series with

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor. In film he is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's ''Nashville'', E. J. Bellocq in Louis Malle's ''Pretty Baby'', and Mickey in Alan Rudolph's '' Choose Me.'' ...

, where she talked about prostitution on the mining frontier and its parallels in contemporary life.">"Wild West Tech" Brothel Tech (2004) - Full cast and crew
/ref> She has observed small cultures ranging from religious communes to brothels and looked at how they affect and often change their host societies. She has consulted with

COYOTE The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

, an activist sex workers’ group, and the Information Network Focus on New Religious Movements (

INFORM Inform is a programming language and design system for interactive fiction originally created in 1993 by Graham Nelson. Inform can generate programs designed for the Z-machine, Z-code or Glulx virtual machines. Versions 1 through 5 were released ...

) in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography

Selected books

* 1972. ''A Portrait of the Black Attorney in Chicago.'' Chicago: American Bar Foundation Press. Pp. 62 + ix. * 1981. ''Gold Diggers and Silver Miners: Prostitution and Social Life on the Comstock Lode.'' Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, Women and Culture Series. Pp. 214+ ix. * 1995. ''Sex, Schemes, and Sanctity: Religion and Deviance.'' Greenwich CT: JAI Press, sponsored by the Association for the Sociology of Religion. Pp. 271+viii. Edited with Mary Jo Neitz. * 1999. ''Passionate Journeys: Why Successful Women Joined a Cult.'' Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 298 pp. * 2012. ''The American Soul Rush: Esalen and the Rise of Spiritual Privilege.'' New York: New York University Press, 240 pp. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, Marion American sociologists American women sociologists Religious studies scholars 1945 births Living people University of Chicago alumni 21st-century American women Researchers of new religious movements and cults