David Yamane

David Yamane earned his BA (’91) in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and his MS (’94) and Ph.D. (’98) in sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After teaching at the University of Notre Dame and holding a post-doc at the University of Virginia’s Center on Religion and Democracy, he joined the sociology faculty at Wake Forest in 2005.

For the first 20 years of his academic career, Professor Yamane specialized in the sociology of religion, a field in which he authored, co-authored or edited 6 books and 2 major scholarly journals.

Since 2011, Professor Yamane has studied guns, especially the new self-defense-oriented core of American gun culture that Michael Bane calls Gun Culture 2.0. His book, Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor's Surprising Journey Inside America's Gun Culture, was published in 2024.

Committed to informing public debate and enriching everyday conversations about guns, Professor Yamane shares his thoughts on his “Light Over Heat" YouTube channel and Substack.

Professional headshots and a full biography are available on Professor Yamane’s personal website davidyamane.com.