[2] Prior to this appointment he was Assistant Professor of Sociology & Religious Studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

[3] Cowan was born in Canada and received his undergraduate education at the University of Victoria where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.

His doctoral work, which involved an examination of the Christian countercult movement through the prism of the sociology of knowledge and propaganda theory, was undertaken through the University of Calgary.

[3] While Cowan currently describes himself as a methodological agnostic,[citation needed] he was ordained to the Christian ministry in the United Church of Canada, and held pastoral positions during his doctoral studies.

[citation needed] After graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1999 Cowan received a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology/CJC and the UMKC Center for Religious Studies.