Richard Noake
Principal Lecturer
Head of Subject: Theology and Religious
Studies
Director, Centre for Church School
Education
Richard has been Head of Subject since 2004 and prior to that
was Head of the Undergraduate degrees in Theology and Religious
Studies. Richard is originally from Nottingham but moved to
Yorkshire in the mid 1980s. Apart from 6 years living in Stockton
on Tees when he was a Secondary RE teacher working in Middlesbrough
Richard has been resident in God’s own county ever since.
Teaching in Theology and Religious Studies
Richard’s teaching is across the disciplines of religious
studies, theology and education. At undergraduate level he teaches
modules on The Sikh Tradition and broadly in the area of
religion and the arts, including a module on Religion and
Film. He has also been interested in the role that creativity
can play in learning and co-tutors two modules involving the use of
creative writing and art practice in learning and assessment:
Religion, Writing and the Creative Imagination and
Religion and the Visual Arts. At taught postgraduate level
Richard’s work is focussed on Religion and Popular Culture. His
early HE career also included work in Teacher Education and he
continues to make some contribution to this area of the curriculum
particularly in the areas of Religious Education and about schools
with a religious foundation.
Creativity in Theology and Religious
Studies
Richard has been keen to explore the practice of teaching and
learning in Higher Education and in particular to focus on ways in
which the subject area of Theology and Religious Studies is
delivered. In the late 2000s he worked with Dr Sue Yore on projects
funded by the Higher Education Academy and the Centre for
Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Collaboration for Creativity,
based at York St John investigating ways in which the curriculum in
Theology and Religious Studies can be enhanced through more
creative approaches to teaching and assessment. The two modules
mentioned above were one of the outcomes – here students can submit
creative writing and creative art artefacts as part of assessment.
Their learning also includes working with creative writing
practitioners and art educators to encourage their own creative
output. These modules prove to be extremely popular with
undergraduate students. The projects were written up as a paper for
the journal Discourse and a national conference for all those
involved in teaching Theology and RS was hosted at York St John,
entitled Beyond the Ordinary: Creative Approaches to Teaching
and Learning in Religious Studies.
Richard’s commitment to learning and teaching is clearly
evidenced in his role as a University Teaching Fellow and his
achievement of the Higher Education Academy status of Fellow of the
Academy. He is also a designated Subject Champion for the HEA
Subject Centre of Philosophical and Religious Studies.
Korean Exchange Project
Richard was successful on three consecutive
occasions in being awarded Prime Ministers Initiative 2 funding to
set up and develop an undergraduate exchange with the Presbyterian
College and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. This
project, begun in 2008, has established an international
opportunity for final year students to visit Korea for 4 weeks to
carry out research into religion in a global context. Those who opt
into the programme stay at PCTS and visit Christian, Buddhist and
Shamanistic places of worship. For those who go it is usually the
highlight of their degree programme.
Sikhism and South Asian Arts
Richard
is research active and has published in the area of Sikh Diaspora
experiences. His small scale investigation into the Sikhs of York
was published in the edited volume Community Identity: Dynamics
of Religion in Context (Kim & Kollontai, t&t clark
2007). This research was used in 2010 in a major study into
ethnic change in the city funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,
entitled Mapping rapidly changing minority ethnic populations:
a case study of York by 
Professor Gary Craig et al. His
continued interest in the Sikh experience has also led to
invitations to speak at the House of Lords as part of the Sikh
Education Council UK’s celebrations of the Sikh historical figure
Banda Singh Bahadur. This event was hosted by Baroness Cox and Dr
Pargat Singh, Chair of SEC UK. Richard’s links with the regional
South Asian community and his keen interest in music and dance was
extended in 2012 when he became a member of the Board of Trustees
of South Asian Arts UK (SAA UK) a small Arts Council funded
organisation based in Leeds. He is delighted to be working with
this organisation to further the cultural and expressive arts.
Centre for Church School Education
Richard has been the Director of the Centre since 2005. The
Centre focuses on the place of religious foundation schooling in
the UK context and offers school based practitioners, Heads,
Governors, Clergy and others involved in the work of Church School
education a place to reflect on their work and experience.
The annual conference hosted at the University and held in
September each year brings key national figures into easy reach of
regional teachers and school communities. Themes explored through
the Conference have included: Children’s Spirituality;
Distinctiveness and Inclusion; Religious Education; Collective
Worship. Richard’s strong commitment to Church Schools is
enhanced by his experience of being Vice Chair of Governors at a
regional VA C of E Primary School.
St Wilfrid Lectures
Richard
is a strong advocate of theology done in real space and time, where
the subject area is in dialogue with the critical issues of the
day. He chairs the St Wilfrid Lecture Series committee, a
collaborative group who bring the world of theology and education
into the public space. The group have been active since 2008 and
the partners are: Ripon Cathedral (where all lectures are hosted);
Ripon and Leeds Diocese; Methodist Church; and York St John
University. The lectures are named in honour of Ripon Cathedral’s
founder and are now well established as a lively forum for public
conversation and theological reflection on the common social, moral
and political concerns of the day. The lectures also embody an
ecumenical and interdisciplinary dimension, providing a platform
for the exchange of ideas between theological and educational
interests, as well as between the church and other faiths,
communities, and organisations. Previous lectures have ranged
widely over questions of faith and public life, with high profile
speakers including the Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, Lord
Inderjit Singh, Ruth Gledhill, Baroness Estelle Morris, Professor
Terry Eagleton, and Professor Mona Siddiqui.
Richard is currently working with a Cathedral colleague, Rev Dr
Nick Buxton, to edited a selection of the lectures from the first
three series. These will be published by SCM Press in 2013 under
the title of: Religion, Society and God: The Role of Faith in
Contemporary Britain.
Religion, Peace and Reconciliation
This project was started in 2006 with colleagues in the Theology
and Religious Studies section in order to examine methodology for
sustainable and constructive contributions to peace and
reconciliation. For effective peace-making, encouraging and
utilizing religious communities is vital in any society regardless
of the cause of conflicts. The research team has utilized
approaches from various global contexts in order to gather concrete
findings for peace-building initiated by religious communities. The
International Conference on Peace and Reconciliation series has
brought together scholars, religious leaders, policy-makers and
practitioners in York St John University (2006), University of
California in Los Angeles (2009), and Youngnak Presbyterian Church
(2010). Richard was involved in the 201 Conference and together
with colleagues has been working on editing the papers from the
Conference. These were published in November 2012 as a 3 volume
set, with Richard co-editing the second volume. The 2012 Conference
is being held in Israel on the theme of Mediating Peace:
Reconciliation through Art, Music and Film. Richard is
presenting a paper entitled: ‘Walk On’ – Political Protest
through Rock Music: U2, Aung San Suu Kyi, Peace, Democracy and
Liberation.
