Douglas Edward Cowan (born 14 August 1958) is a Canadian academic in religious studies and the sociology of religion and currently holds a teaching position at Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.^[2] Prior to this appointment he was Assistant Professor of Sociology & Religious Studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.^[3]

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Quick Facts The Reverend, Born ...

The Reverend Douglas E. Cowan
Born	Douglas Edward Cowan (1958-08-14) 14 August 1958 (age 65) Canada
Ecclesiastical career
Religion	Christianity
Church	United Church of Canada
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Victoria St. Andrews Theological College University of Calgary
Thesis	"Bearing False Witness"[1] (1999)
Doctoral advisor	Irving Hexham
Academic work
Discipline	Religious studies sociology
Sub-discipline	Sociology of religion
Institutions	University of Missouri–Kansas City University of Waterloo
Main interests	New religious movements religion and popular culture
Website	artsweb.uwaterloo.ca/~decowan

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Cowan was born in Canada and received his undergraduate education at the University of Victoria where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. He then proceeded to theological studies and received a Master of Divinity degree from St. Andrews Theological College. His doctoral work, which involved an examination of the Christian countercult movement through the prism of the sociology of knowledge and propaganda theory, was undertaken through the University of Calgary.^[3]

While Cowan currently describes himself as a methodological agnostic,^{[citation needed]} he was ordained to the Christian ministry in the United Church of Canada, and held pastoral positions during his doctoral studies.^{[citation needed]} After graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1999 Cowan received a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology/CJC and the UMKC Center for Religious Studies.^[3] During 2005 he relocated from the US to his current teaching post at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

• Cowan, Douglas E. (18 November 2004). Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415969116.
• Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. (24 September 2007). Cults and New Religions: A Brief History. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405161282.
• Cowan, Douglas E. (30 November 2003). The Remnant Spirit: Conservative Reform in Mainline Protestantism. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Praeger. ISBN 978-0275974497.
• Cowan, Douglas E. (30 May 2003). Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Praeger. ISBN 978-0275974596.
• Dawson, Lorne L.; Cowan, Douglas E., eds. (22 July 2004). Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415970228.
• Haddon, Jeffrey K. (1 November 2000). Cowan, Douglas E. (ed.). Religion on the Internet: Research Prospects and Promises (1st ed.). Amsterdam [u.a.]: JAI. ISBN 978-0762305353.
• Cowan, Douglas E. (1 October 2008). Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press. ISBN 978-1602580183.
• Cowan, Douglas E. (2007). "Episode 712: South Park, Ridicule, and the Cultural Construction of Religious Rivalry". Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 17. ISSN 1703-289X.

• Anti-cult movement
• List of University of Waterloo people