Carolyn Chen, a sociologist, is Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, she grew up in Pennsylvania and Southern California. Carolyn received her A.B. from Brown University, and her Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Berkeley. She previously taught at Northwestern University in the Department of Sociology, as well as in the Program in Asian American Studies, where she served as Director.

​

Carolyn’s research focuses on religion, spirituality, and work in the new economy, as well as Asian American religions. She is the author of Getting Saved in America: Taiwanese Immigration and Religious Experience (Princeton 2008) and co-editor of Sustaining Faith Traditions: Religion, Race and Ethnicity among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation (NYU 2012). Carolyn has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and spoken on National Public Radio. She is Co-Director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, and a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI), a scholarly community committed to the advancement of public knowledge of Asian Pacific American religions. Carolyn and her family live in the Bay Area.