Donald B. Kraybill is a prolific author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist

Anabaptist

Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....

 faiths

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 and living

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

. Kraybill is widely recognized for his studies on Anabaptist

Anabaptist

Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....

 groups, and is the foremost living expert on the Old Order Amish

Amish

The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...

.

Kraybill is Distinguished College Professor, and Senior Fellow of Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown College is a small comprehensive college located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania in Lancaster County. The school was founded in 1899 by members of the Church of the Brethren...

 in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

Elizabethtown is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Harrisburg. Small factories existed at the turn of the century when the population in 1900 was 1,861. There was a slight increase in the next decade, with 1,970 people living in Elizabethtown in 1910. As of the 2000 census,...

. He previously served as chairman of the Sociology and Social Work Department at Elizabethtown from 1979 to 1985 and as director of Young Center from 1989 to 1996. He was provost of Messiah College

Messiah College

Messiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in Grantham, Pennsylvania, near the capital city of Harrisburg...

 (PA) from 1996 to 2002, before returning to Elizabethtown College in 2003.

Current projects

In October 2005, Young Center was awarded a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...

 for a three-year collaborative research project entitled "Amish Diversity and Identity: Transformations in 20th Century America." In addition to Kraybill as senior investigator, the investigative team includes Steven Nolt

Steven Nolt

Steven M. Nolt is professor of history at Goshen College and author of ten books, most of which focus on Amish and Mennonite history and culture. He is a frequent source for journalists and other researching Anabaptist groups. He was often quoted in the aftermath of the 2006 Amish school shooting...

, Professor of History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 at Goshen College

Goshen College

Goshen College, is a private Mennonite liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana, USA with an enrollment of around 1,000 students. The college is accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities...

 in Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, and Karen Johnson-Weiner, Professor of Anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 at the State University of New York

State University of New York

The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...

 at Potsdam. A national panel of seven scholars will advise the research team throughout the project.
The NEH grant will enable the researchers to investigate the Amish experience at the national level, giving attention to geographic expansion, the growth of diversity, changing conceptions of identity and evolving patterns of interaction with the larger society. The team will also explore how the Amish have contributed to shaping the identity of a nation that made exceptions in the areas of education, Social Security

Social Security (United States)

In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...

, and child labor

Child labor

Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...

 for a religious minority living on its cultural margins.

Educator and author

Before returning to Elizabethtown College, Kraybill served as provost

Provost (education)

A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....

 and professor of Sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 and Anabaptist studies at Messiah College

Messiah College

Messiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in Grantham, Pennsylvania, near the capital city of Harrisburg...

 in Grantham, Pennsylvania

Grantham, Pennsylvania

Grantham is an unincorporated community in Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, best known today for the Christian liberal arts college, Messiah College, whose students make up most of its population....

.

Kraybill is the author or editor of more than 18 books and dozens of professional articles. His books have been translated into six different languages and his research on Anabaptist groups has been featured in magazines, newspapers, and on radio and television programs across the United States and in many foreign countries.

Kraybill writes almost exclusively on the Anabaptists faiths. In addition to academic books — largely published by Johns Hopkins University Press

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 — he also writes popular books sold in gift shops to tourists, interested in learning more about the plain sects. He is one of two experts — the other being D. Holmes Morton

D. Holmes Morton

D. Holmes Morton is an American physician specializing in genetic disorders of Old Order Amish and Mennonite children. In 1989 he established the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania to focus on these diseases....

 — frequently quoted by reporters to give background to news stories involving the Amish.

Degrees

• 1976 Ph.D., Temple University
  Temple University
  Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
  
  
• 1971 M.A., Temple University
• 1967 B.A., Eastern Mennonite University
  Eastern Mennonite University
  Eastern Mennonite University is a private liberal arts university in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, affiliated with one of the historic peace churches, the Mennonite Church USA. Its main campus is on the edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Virginia, about three miles from state-owned...
  
  

Works

• Our Star-Spangled Faith, 1976. ISBN 0-8361-1797-2
• Puzzles of Amish Life, 1990. ISBN 1-56148-001-0
• Old Order Amish: Their Enduring Way of Life (with Lucian Niemeyer), 1993. ISBN 0-8018-4426-6
• The Amish Struggle With Modernity (Co-edited with Marc Alan Olshan), 1994. ISBN 0-87451-684-6
• The Riddles of Human Society (with Conrad L. Kanagy, 1999. ISBN 0-7619-8562-X
• The Riddle of Amish Culture, 2001. ISBN 0-8018-6772-X
• Anabaptist World USA (with C. Nelson Hostetter), 2001. ISBN 0-8361-9163-3
• On the Backroad to Heaven: Old Order Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren (co-author: Carl Bowman
  Carl Bowman
  Carl Bowman is an American sociologist, who is widely recognized for his studies of Anabaptist religious groups and is perhaps the foremost expert on the social and cultural history of the Church of the Brethren.- Author and educator :...
  
  ), 2001. ISBN 0-8018-6565-4
• The Upside-Down Kingdom
  The Upside-Down Kingdom
  The Upside-Down Kingdom is a book written by Donald B. Kraybill, a Mennonite sociologist, educator, and Senior Fellow of Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. First published in 1978, the book was revised and released again in 1990...
  
  , 2003. ISBN 0-8361-9236-2
• The Amish: Why They Enchant Us, 2003. ISBN 0-8361-9241-9
• Who Are the Anabaptists: Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, 2003. ISBN 0-8361-9242-7
• The Amish and the State, 2003. ISBN 0-8018-7236-7
• Amish Enterprise: From Plows to Profits (with Steven M. Nolt), 2004. ISBN 0-8018-7805-5
• Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (with Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver-Zercher), 2007. ISBN 0787997617.
• The Amish of Lancaster County (with photography by Daniel Rodriguez), 2008. ISBN 0-8117-3478-3.
• The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World (with Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver-Zercher), 2010. ISBN 0470520698.
• Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, 2010. ISBN 0-8018-9657-6.