Professor

Research Interests

Our research focuses on how religion and Whiteness shape individual and group engagement with social justice. In one area of research, we examine the ways in which religious settings such as congregations promote social justice engagement. We further explore how White students understand and emotionally respond to racism and White privilege with implications for how to engage White students in racial justice action.

Research Description

2018 Early Career Award: Society for Community Research and Action

2012 Louisville Institute Project Grants for Researchers. Understanding Social Networks and Social Capital in Religious Congregations. N. Todd, Principal Investigator. $25,000 funded.

Education

Theology, M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary
Psychology, M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary
Ph.D, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
B.A., University of Oklahoma

Recent Publications

Cowand, A., Bresin, K., Todd, N. R., & Mekawi, Y. (2025). Presenting a strengths-based ecological model for promoting well-being among LGBTQ+ adults. New Ideas in Psychology, 79, Article 101178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2025.101178

Todd, N. R., Watanabe, S., & Blackburn, A. M. (2025). Examining the Religious Residue Among Racial-Ethnically Diverse Sexual Minorities. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2025.2521571

Watanabe, S., & Todd, N. R. (2025). One Trajectory Does Not Fit All: Understanding Religious Deidentification with Longitudinal Patterns of Religious Doubt and Engagement. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2025.2521564

Todd, N. R., Nguyêñ, D. M., Blackburn, A. M., & La, R. (2024). Associations Between State Policies and Sexual Minority Mental Health Disparities. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 11(1), 90-106. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000431

Yi, J., & Todd, N. R. (2024). A Grounded Theory of Intersectional Asian American College Student Activism. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 15(4), 365-377. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000358

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