The CIVA Lab

The US is facing three interlocking problems that make it more difficult for people to come together and manage the collective work of a flourishing democratic society.

  • Political polarization raises the stakes of public conflict

  • Civic disengagement and social isolation reduce participation in public life

  • Declining trust in institutions and experts threatens the quality of shared information in the public sphere.

We seek to understand these forces that break people apart so that we can propose better solutions for bringing them together. We study tools to improve our social infrastructure: culture, institutions, values, and authority (CIVA).

We do collaborative research and advising with UMass Boston PhD Candidates to integrate their dissertation work and collaborative projects into our lab’s collective mission. Want to join us? More information is here.

Our Collaborative Research

  • How does the rise of streaming media - including video content on YouTube and live content on Twitch - challenge and change our closely-held political and religious beliefs?

    • Stewart, Evan, and Cam Marsinelli. “Spirituality at Scale: Insights from a Large Sample of Tarot Readings.” Presented at the 2025 Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association.

  • How do we move public opinion research beyond the study of belief in climate change to focus on preparedness, risk perception, and opportunities to reduce polarization?

    Funded by a 2022 UMB Endowed Faculty Early Career Development Award and graduate student dissertation funding for collaborative survey fielding:

    • Dacey, Timothy, and Evan Stewart. 2023. “The Green Elephants in the Room: Perceived Environmental Harm and Support for Regulation Among Republicans.” Sociological Inquiry 93(2):250–72. doi:10.1111/soin.12511.

    • Stewart, Evan, Katsyris Rivera-Kientz, and Timothy Dacey. 2024. “Mapping Racial and Ethnic Variation in Climate Belief Networks.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity doi:10.1177/23326492241259404.

    • Stewart, Evan. 2024. “Necessity or Luxury? Air Conditioning and Support for Utility Assistance in the Context of Climate Change.” Socius doi:10.1177/23780231241278540.

    • Rivera-Kientz, Katsyris, and Evan Stewart. 2025. “The Preparedness Paradox in Climate Attitudes: Democrats Worry, Republicans Prepare.” The Sociological Quarterly 66(2):355–81. doi:10.1080/00380253.2024.2417386.

  • Current Dissertations in Progress

    • Diane Beckman - “Attitudes Toward Immigrants in the United States: The Catholic Perspective”

    • Cam Marsinelli - “Disrupted Inference: Expertise, Authority, and Evaluation in the Age of GenAI”

    Dissertations Defended

    • Dr. Tim Dacey - “After The Disaster: Environmental Harm And Cultural Change”

    • Dr. Katsyris Rivera Kientz - “Weathering Inequality: The Belief Action Gap and Barriers to Everyday Climate Adaptation”