Her research and teaching interests include American Religious History, specializing in the American West with particular attention to American Indian Religions. She is interested in the intersection of land, race, and religion, as well as gender, violence, memory, and theories of religion. Her book Ute Land Religion in the American West is a narrative of American religion and how it intersected with land in the American West. She is active in the American Academy of Religion, where she co-chairs the Religion in the American West group, a new AAR group that she helped propose. She is also on the steering committee of the Religion, Colonialism, and Postcolonialism group. Dr. Denison is also the editor for Religion Compass.