I joined York St John University in 2000 as a lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies. I am currently a Professor Emeritus in the School of Humanities. I previously worked at the University of Bradford in the Department of Peace Studies (1990 to 1995), and then at the University of Leeds in the Department of Adult Education (1995 to 2000). My academic qualifications are in the disciplines of Peace Studies, and Theology and Religious Studies. From January to May 2019, I was appointed as a member of the Resident Research Scholars Interdisciplinary Seminar Programme Team on ‘Religion and Violence’ at the Centre of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, USA.
I am a Co-Series Editor for the Routledge book series, Religion Matters: On the Significance of Religion in Global Issues. In October 2023, I was appointed as a Fellow at Wesley House College, Cambridge.
My primary teaching areas are religion in a global context, religion and human rights, religion and democracy, and religion, violence, and peace. I have supervised several MRes and PhD students and examined masters and doctoral theses.
I teach on the following modules:
- Religion and Globalisation
- Religion and Peacebuilding
- Religion, Peace, and Conflict
- Religion and Politics
My primary research interests are religion in global context, religion, violence, and peace, and religion, politics and democracy. Overall, I am concerned with religion as a source of either cohesion or division in social contexts. My research spans a range of disciplines, particularly those of theology and religious studies, politics and peace studies. My research normally involves both book-based and field research and working with a range of actors including practitioners, policy makers and religious leaders in various international contexts.
My recent research activities include a co-authored book with with Professor Friedrich Lohman (Bundeswehr University, Munich) on religion and human rights, published by Routledge (2023); a co-authored of book with Professor Christine Schliesser (University of Fribourg) and Dr Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana, (Georgetown University Washington D.C.) on religion in conflict and conflict resolution, (Routledge, 2020). and a edited book with Professor Zhibin Xie, (University of Shanghai, China) and Professor Sebastian Kim (Fuller Theological Seminary, USA) on 'Human Dignity, Human Rights, and Social Justice: A Chinese Interdisciplinary Dialogue with Global Perspective', (Springer International, 2019). Currently, I'm working on a co-authored book project looking at religion and populism in the UK, Turkey and Israel.
Membership of Professional/Academic Bodies
- Elected Member of Centre for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, USA.
- Elected Member of The International Symposium for Religious Education and Values (ISREV).
- Member of The Global Network for Public Theology
- British Association for the Study of Religion
International Peace Research Association
International Peace Research Association, Co-Convenor, Religion, Peace and Spirituality Commission (2014-2017) - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Editorial Member
- Co-editor and co-founder of Routledge book series, Religion Matters: On the Significance of Religion in Global Issues
- Editorial team for Religions for Peace Publications, UN, New York, (2020 - 2023)
- Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Research in Education, (2013 to 2016)
- International Editorial Advisory Board, Religious Education Journal of Australia, (2010 to 2015)
Reviewing
- Article Review Panel, International Journal of Public Theology
- Article Review Panel, Journal of Religion
International Consultant and Reviewing
- December 2021 Project Review Consultant for Fulbright Commission Research Scholarships, Czech Republic.
- June – July 2021 International Assessor for the Centre for Religious and Spiritual Education (CRSE) at the University of Hong Kong, (assessment of the Centre’s 3-year Period Report and Future Development Plan regarding its teaching and learning programmes, Knowledge Transfer Projects and Research)
- April 2021 - June 2021 International Panel Expert for the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC), Lithuania. Panel Member for assessment of programmes in religious studies at Klaipeda University and Vilnius University
