About

I am a scholar of American religions, history, culture, and politics with a PhD in Religious Studies from Boston University. After graduating magna cum laude with Honors in Religion and History from Brown University in 2008, I spent six years working in marketing in the New York area before returning to academia. Currently, I’m a Visiting Assistant Professor at Fairfield University. 

My first book, Unvaccinated Under God: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy in Modern America (Princeton University Press) is forthcoming in May 2026. This book examines the spiritual and religious roots of vaccine resistance in U.S. history. In general, my work examines contestations over authority through the interactions between religion, alternative health movements, politics, and consumption. In short, my research investigates how various groups and cultural trends answer (and have answered) questions such as, “Who do I trust with my health?,” which I argue, is an essentially religious question. 

I am working on my second book project, a history of conservatism and alternative health culture in the United States (University of Chicago Press). I’m also interested in women’s spirituality and how consumerism aids in the creation of meaningful forms of feminine expressions of both religious ideas and rituals as well as ideas about entrepreneurship and business.

Contact me at kira.g.kieffer@gmail.com.