Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
Mark Gray

Mark M. Gray is a Research Associate Professor at Georgetown University and the Director of CARA Catholic Polls at Georgetown's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). Dr. Gray has a Ph.D. in Political Science and a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on the Catholic Church, elections and voting, science and religion, the history and politics of food, human exploration, and futurism. Methodologically, Mark specializes in survey research, trend analysis, demographic studies, and cross-sectional time-series analysis. Dr. Gray came to Georgetown in 2002 after completing his graduate work. Since that time he has been a primary investigator for more than 25 national surveys of adult Catholics at CARA ranging from media use to sacramental practice. He has taught the following courses in Liberal Studies and Catholic Studies: Introduction to the Social Sciences, American Popular Culture, Losing God? Secularization: Theory, History, and Evidence, Let Them Eat Culture: The History and Politics of Food, Catholicism in 21st Century America, History of the Future, and Catholicism at the Movies: A Critical Review of Portrayals of Faith on Film. He won Outstanding Faculty Awards for the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies program in 2014, 2015, and 2023. As a graduate student he worked as a journalist for The Orange County Register. He continues to write, most recently winning 1st Place in the Catholic Press Association Awards for Best In-Depth News/Special Reporting for a National Newspaper or Wire Service for his story "Young people are leaving the faith: Here's why" in OSV Newsweekly.