Robert William Balch is a sociologist and

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". ...

at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

. Balch is best known for his studies of Heaven's Gate (with David Taylor), the

Aryan Nations Aryan Nations is a North American antisemitic, neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate group that was originally based in Kootenai County, Idaho, about miles (4.4 km) north of the city of Hayden Lake. Richard Girnt Butler founded Aryan N ...

, and the

Love Family The Love Family, or the Church of Jesus Christ at Armageddon, was a U.S. communal religious movement formed in 1968 and led by Paul Erdmann, who renamed himself Love Israel. After a fractious conflict in 1984, the community was reduced to a sm ...

Heaven's Gate

Balch found a UFO flyer for Heaven's Gate at a Christian coffeehouse in Sedona, Arizona. At the time Balch was on unpaid leave from University of Montana. He called up graduate student David Taylor, asking him to drop everything and move with him to California. He and Taylor joined Heaven's Gate for 3 months in the 1970s, traveling with the cult and secretly taking extensive notes on his experience before eventually leaving to go resume his life. After leaving Heaven's Gate, Balch and Taylor published articles about Heaven's Gate. Eventually, they lost track of Heaven's Gate in the late 1970s. Balch's work as a sociologist took off from his studying of Heaven's Gate. He held a reunion for surviving ex-members in the late 90s that included "Ti"'s daughter.

Education

* Ph.D.,

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 ...

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 ...

, 1972 * M.A.,

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, 1968 *

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

, 1966

Publications

*2006. "The Rise and Fall of Aryan Nations: A Resource Mobilization Perspective." Journal of Political and Military Sociology. *2003. "Heaven's Gate: Implications for the Study of Commitment to New Religions." pp. 122–237 in James R. Lewis, (ed.), Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions. Amherst, NY: Prometheus. (co-author, David Taylor) *2002. "Making Sense of the Heaven's Gate Suicides." pp. 209–228 in David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton (eds.), Cults, Religion, and Violence. New York: Cambridge University Press. *1998. "How the Problem of Malfeasance Gets Overlooked in Studies of New Religions: An Examination of the AWARE Study of UT" Robert W. Balch & Stephan Langdon in Wolves within the Fold. Anson Shupe, Ed. Rutgers. *1977. "Seekers and Saucers: The Role of the Cultic Milieu in Joining a UFO Cult." Rob Balch & David Taylor. American Behavioral Scientist 20, no. 6 (1977), P. 839–60. *1976. "Salvation in a UFO.", Robert W. Balch & David Taylor. Psychology Today 10

Selected courses

*''SOC 110: Principles of Sociology'': Overview of the principles and concepts used in the study of human social interaction, groups, communities and societies. *''SOC 130: Sociology of Alternative Religions'': Unconventional religious groups in American society. Topics include recruitment, conversion, commitment, defection, leadership, belief systems, organizational structure and change. *''SOC 201: Social Science Methods'': Methods of research in the social sciences including naturalistic observation, interviewing, measurement, experiments, surveys, content analysis, and basic data analysis. *''SOC 310: Extraordinary Group Behavior'': The study of emergent social behavior including rumors, crowds, crazes, riots, panics, terrorism, revolutions and social movements. *''SOC 488: Field Research Methods'': The studying of people in their natural environment by observing what they do as they go about their everyday lives.

References

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