CV

Jonathan Simmons, PhD
jonathansimmons.ca · ORCID 0000-0001-5231-0578

Experience

Graduate Writing Advisor
University of Alberta, Writing and Learning (Student Success and Experience) · Edmonton, AB · 2019 – Present

Workshops, writing groups, retreats, and individual consultations for graduate students and faculty.

Assistant Lecturer, Department of Sociology
University of Alberta · Edmonton, AB · 2019 – 2021

Introductory sociology; criminology.

Contract Instructor, Department of Sociology
University of Alberta · Edmonton, AB · 2015 – 2018

Sociology of Deviance and Conformity; Sociology of Religion; Social Psychology; Social Movements; Social Studies of Surveillance.

Contract Instructor, Department of Social Sciences
Concordia University of Edmonton · Edmonton, AB · 2017 – 2019

Sociological Concepts and Perspectives.

Doctoral Researcher
University of Alberta · Edmonton, AB · 2012 – 2018

SSHRC-funded qualitative study of atheist identity and community in Edmonton.

Earlier academic experience
University of Alberta and University of New Brunswick · 2007 – 2013

Sessional Instructor, Teaching Assistant, and Research Assistant. Selected RA positions:

• University of Alberta Prison Project (Drs. Sandra Bucerius and Kevin Haggerty)
• Archival Assistant, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions (Dr. Stephen A. Kent)
• Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education (Dr. Joseph Galbo)
• Irish Cultural Identity, Mediation, and Music in New Brunswick (Dr. Daniel Downes)
• Gender Roles in Japanese Comics (Dr. June Madeley)

Teaching and workshop design

Graduate writing workshops, retreats, and consultations on writing process, academic integrity, AI use in scholarly writing, grants and proposals, theses and dissertations, journal article revision, paraphrasing, sentence clarity, and professional academic genres.

Selected external webinar: “How to Make Informed, Practical and Responsible Decisions About Using AI in Academic Writing,” Department of Criminology and the Policy Studies Ph.D. Program, Toronto Metropolitan University (2026).

Teaching materials

• Using AI Responsibly in Academic Writing (2026). Multi-module Canvas resource, University of Alberta.
• True, Accurate, and Complete (in development). AI writing lab for graduate researchers applying for funding.
• Simmons, J. (2011). Study Guide to Accompany Karen L. Anderson’s Thinking about Sociology: A Critical Introduction. Oxford University Press.
• Simmons, J. (2011). Test Bank to Accompany Karen L. Anderson’s Thinking about Sociology: A Critical Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Research

Current projects

• Associate Investigator, “Indigenous nonreligion in Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada,” Victoria University of Wellington (2024–present)
• Principal Researcher, “Indigenous Atheists in Canada: Challenging Assumptions and Navigating Belonging,” University of Alberta (2023–2026)

Peer-reviewed articles

• Eacersall, D., Pretorius, L., Smirnov, I., Spray, E., Illingworth, S., Chugh, R., Strydom, S., Stratton-Maher, D., Simmons, J., et al. (2025). Navigating ethical challenges in generative AI-enhanced research: The ETHICAL framework for responsible generative AI use. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 8(2). DOI · arXiv PDF
• Simmons, J. (2024). Indigenous atheists in Canada: Challenging assumptions and navigating belonging. Secular Studies, 6(1), 62–83. DOI
• Sandhu, A., & Simmons, J. (2023). Police officers as filmmakers: The cinematography of body worn cameras. Policing and Society, 33(5), 593–603. DOI
• Simmons, J., & Sandhu, A. (2020). Between Islam and Islamophobia: Stigma management among Canadian atheist activists. Secular Studies, 2(2), 117–137. DOI
• Simmons, J. (2020). Feminist women’s attitudes towards feminist men in the Canadian atheist movement. Religion and Gender, 10(2), 182–201. DOI
• Simmons, J. (2019). Politics, individualism, and atheism: An examination of the political attitudes of atheist activists in a Canadian city. Secularism and Nonreligion, 8(2). DOI
• Simmons, J. (2019). Homeopathy as a form of practical magic. International Journal of Cultic Studies, 10, 32–40.
• Simmons, J. (2018). ‘Not that kind of atheist’: Scepticism as a lifestyle movement. Social Movement Studies, 17(4), 437–450. DOI
• Simmons, J. (2017). Atheism plus what? Social justice and lifestyle politics among Edmonton atheists. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 42(4), 425–446. DOI
• Simmons, J., & Kent, S. A. (2015). An expansion of the rational choice approach: Social control in the Children of God during the 1970s and 1980s. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 6(1), 27–49. DOI
• Simmons, J. (2013). Positive psychology as a scientific movement. International Journal of Science in Society, 4(1), 43–52. DOI

Book chapters

• Simmons, J. (forthcoming). De-converting from indigenous religious traditions. In P. Zuckerman & A. Zamušinski (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Apostasy and Religious Deconversion. Oxford University Press.
• Simmons, J. (2024). The politics of nonreligion. In J. M. Smith & R. T. Cragun (Eds.), Secularity and nonreligion in North America: An introduction (pp. 152–170). Bloomsbury Academic. Book link

Book reviews

• Simmons, J. (2018). Review of Resilient Gods: Being Pro-religious, Low Religious, or No Religious in Canada, by R. W. Bibby. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 43(1), 93–96. DOI
• Simmons, J. (2014). Review of Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind, by D. C. Dennett & L. LaScola. Secularism and Nonreligion, 3(4). DOI
• Simmons, J. (2013, January 15). Review of Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, by J. Evans. LSE Review of Books.

Public writing and fiction

• Simmons, J. (2026). Epistemic laundering: How universities sell pseudoscience. Skeptical Inquirer. Read online
• Simmons, J. (2026, June/July). The last people, again. Free Inquiry, 46(4). Read online
• Simmons, J. (2026, April/May). The prophet and the pathologist: Stephen Kent, Massimo Introvigne, and the battle for an honest study of religion. Free Inquiry, 46(3). Read online
• Simmons, J. (2025, August/September). The humanist response to authoritarianism. Free Inquiry, 45(5). Read online
• Simmons, J. (2025, June 16). Beyond smudge and Creator: Recognizing Indigenous nonbelievers in Canada. Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network. Read online
• Simmons, J. (2025, April/May). Sacred or secular? Rethinking Indigenous spirituality. Free Inquiry, 45(3). Read online
• Simmons, J. (2025). Les Guérisseurs. On Spec Magazine, 133. Available here
• Simmons, J. (2010, November). Modest intentionalism and the replicant debate. Americana: The American Popular Culture Magazine. Read online
• Simmons, J. (2010, April 1). The pervert’s guide to The Birds: Of Hitchcock, Žižek, the maternal superego, and critical confusion. Bright Lights Film Journal. Read online

Media

• Divorcing Religion Podcast (forthcoming)
• Folio (University of Alberta), March 21, 2019
• 630 CHED radio, May 28, 2014
• Society of Edmonton Atheists Roundtable, November 3, 2015

Conference presentations

• Simmons, J. (2024). My writing partner is hallucinating: Investigating ChatGPT’s impact on PhD students’ writing practices. Consortium on Graduate Communication Virtual Summer Institute.
• Simmons, J. (2023). You’re not indigenous enough: The voices of indigenous atheists in three Canadian cities. Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network Conference, Ottawa (virtual).
• Simmons, J. (2021). Graduate students’ writing anxiety and the limits of self-care. Canadian Sociological Association, Edmonton (virtual).
• Simmons, J. (2021). Harnessing online writing retreats to help graduate students. CAWS Colloquium, Edmonton (virtual).
• Simmons, J. (2018). Political atheism and individualism. Pacific Northwest Political Science Association.
• Simmons, J. (2017). The social justice atheist: A case study of atheist activism in Edmonton. Canadian Sociological Association, Toronto. (Best Student Paper Award)
• Simmons, J. (2017). Atheist identity in Edmonton, Alberta: An intersectional approach. Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Washington, DC.
• Simmons, J. (2016). ‘Not that kind of atheist’: Scepticism as a lifestyle movement. Canadian Sociological Association, Calgary.
• Simmons, J., & Sandhu, A. (2016). Between Islam and Islamophobia: Stigma management. Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Atlanta.
• Simmons, J. (2015). Not all atheists are skeptics: Boundary work among secularists in Alberta. W. David Pierce Research Colloquium, Edmonton.
• Simmons, J., & Sandhu, A. (2015). We’re not Islamophobes: Stigma management and atheist activism. Association for the Sociology of Religion, Chicago.
• Simmons, J. (2014). Magic and mysticism in the (post) modern cult of homeopathy. ICSA Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
• Simmons, J. (2012). Social inequality in higher education: Investigating (mis)perceptions about low-income students. Canadian Sociological Association, Waterloo.
• Simmons, J. (2012). The science of happiness: Positive psychology as a scientific movement. International Conference on Science in Society, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.
• Simmons, J. (2011). New thought and American positive psychologies in context. Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, Fredericton.
• Simmons, J. (2011). Positive psychology as a scientific movement. Canadian Sociological Association, Fredericton.

Grants, awards, and honours

• Marsden Fund Research Grant ($360,000), Co-Investigator (2024–2027)
• Graduate Student Teaching Award, University of Alberta (2017)
• Best Student Paper Award, Canadian Sociological Association (2017)
• Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship ($7,500) (2017)
• Sociology PhD Post-Candidacy Research Grant ($1,300) (2015)
• Sociology Student Travel Grant ($1,000) (2014)
• Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship, University of Alberta (2013–2015)
• President’s Doctoral Prize of Distinction ($27,100) (2013)
• SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship ($105,000) (2013)
• University of Alberta Scholarship ($15,000) (2012)
• SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Master’s Scholarship ($17,500) (2011)

Service

University

• SSE Health, Safety, & Environment Committee, University of Alberta (current)
• Dean of Students Awards Committee (Accessibility Awards), University of Alberta (2020)
• Undergraduate Teaching Committee Representative, University of Alberta (2019–2020)
• Academic Teaching Staff Representative, Sociology Department Council, University of Alberta (2019–2020)
• Contract Instructor Representative, Sociology Department Council, University of Alberta (2017)
• Teaching Excellence and Policy Committee, University of New Brunswick (2011–2012)
• Organizer, Social Sciences and Humanities Graduate Student Conference, University of New Brunswick (2011)
• Vice-President Finance, Graduate Student Association, University of New Brunswick (2010–2012)
• Social Science Chair Selection Committee, University of New Brunswick (2011)
• Student Organizing Committee, Canadian Bioethics Society 22nd Annual Conference (2011)
• Graduate Student Representative, Student Life and Support Services Committee, University of New Brunswick (2011–2012)

Community

• Board Member, Society of Edmonton Atheists (2015–2017)

Professional

• Journal peer reviewer: Politics and Religion; Social Movement Studies; Secularism and Nonreligion; Sociological Forum; Canadian Journal of Sociology

Memberships

• European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) (2025)
• Consortium of Graduate Communication

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Sociology · University of Alberta · 2018
Dissertation: “Atheist Identity and Lifestyle Among Activists in Edmonton”
Committee: Stephen A. Kent (supervisor), Kevin Haggerty, Dominique Clément, Richard Reimer · External examiner: Jesse Smith

Master of Arts, Sociology · University of New Brunswick · 2012
Thesis: “Positive Psychology as a Scientific Movement: A Case Study in Scientific Legitimacy”
Supervisor: Joseph Galbo

Bachelor of Arts, Communication Studies and Philosophy · University of New Brunswick · 2010