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Randall J. Stephens

American historian

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ7291562
Source-derived summary

Randall J. Stephens (born 1973) is an editor and historian of American religion.

Career

Stephens is a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. From 2004 to 2012 he was an Assistant and Associate Professor of History at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, and from 2012 to 2018 he was a Reader and Associate Professor of History and American Studies at Northumbria University, in Newcastle, England. He served as editor of the Journal of Southern Religion from 2006 to 2010, and from 2005 to 2013 he was an editor of Historically Speaking published by Johns Hopkins University Press, based out of Boston University. From 2011 to 2016 he was also an associate editor of Fides et Historia. Stephens has been named a Top Young Historian by the History News Network (HNN). He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Century, the Independent, Salon, the Conversation, the Immanent Frame, Religion Dispatches, and The Atlantic. In 2011–2012, he was a Fulbright Roving Scholar in Norway. In 2013, he was named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians.

Education

He received his Ph.D. in American History, under the direction of Bertram Wyatt-Brown, from the University of Florida.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Randall J. Stephens” is american historian. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Randall, Stephens and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1973, 2004, 2012, 2018—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1973-01-01. For this dossier, Randall, Stephens and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american historian” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7291562. VIAF identifies the subject as 19130737. The Library of Congress control number is n2007036977. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1973, 2004, 2012 and 2018.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Randall J. Stephens”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Randall J. Stephens primary sources, Randall J. Stephens archive and Randall research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Randall J. Stephens”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Randall J. Stephens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.