Faith and Peaceful Relations
Within the Faith and Peaceful Relations theme, we are committed to understanding the role of religion and belief in building positive peace, human security and social justice.
About the Theme
Faith and Peaceful Relations is an established research area in the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations with international reach. Our interdisciplinary work focuses on a defining feature of civic life in the 21st century – the renewed visibility of religion in civil society politics at local, national and international levels. We recognise that religion and belief can both hinder and foster the building of inclusive peaceful societies and our research focuses on the role that faith communities can play in building positive peace and fostering greater human security. We have four overlapping areas of expertise: social justice; faith in the public sphere; religion in education, and religious polarisation and racism.
We work with grassroots communities, front-line practitioners and policymakers to undertake research to address social justice issues as part of building peaceful and secure societies and we are committed to the development of participatory research and research-led teaching.
Our research draws on qualitative, quantitative, creative and participatory methodologies. This includes the interplay between political theology, social and cultural geography, experimental psychology of religion and spirituality, peace studies, Islamic studies, gender studies and sociology of religion. In relation to research on religion and belief, this is unparalleled in the UK.
Theme Leads
Chris Shannahan
Theme Lead
Chris Shannahan’s work as a political theologian arises from his experience as an inner city Church minister and community organiser. He has been a lecturer in Theology and Religion at the University of Manchester and the University of Birmingham. Chris focuses on the intersection between theology, poverty, racism and Christian social action. He explores these issues in Voices from the Borderland (2010) and A Theology of Community Organizing (2014). He is currently working on his third monograph – Life on the Breadline: Theology, Politics and Poverty in an Age of Austerity.
Stephanie Denning
Theme Co-Lead
Stephanie Denning is a social and cultural geographer, whose research focusses on poverty, hardship, and faith responses to these - particularly faith-based social action, Christianity, volunteering, and holiday hunger. Stephanie is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations and the Co-Lead of the Faith and Peaceful Relations Research Theme.
Publications
The members of the Faith and Peaceful Relations Theme regularly publish articles, monographs, book chapters, and other media on this multidisciplinary subject. For the most recent publications, please see outputs on the Coventry University Pure page.
PublicationsProjects
The members of the Faith and Peaceful Relations theme lead and collaborate on a number of research projects and additional projects are available on the Coventry University Research Portal.
ProjectsFeatured Projects
Life on the Breadline: Christianity, Poverty and Politics in the 21st Century City
Life on the Breadline is a three year multi-disciplinary ESRC-funded project analysing the nature, scope and impact of Christian engagement with urban poverty in the UK during the ‘Age of Austerity’ that followed the 2008 financial crisis.
STEM and Belief in UK and USA Higher Education
To promote meaningful university STEM opportunities for underrepresented belief groups, this mixed mehthods project seeks to better understand how to foster STEM environments inclusive of belief diversity.
Digital British Islam: How do Cyber Islamic Environments impact everyday lives?
By mapping and interrogating the impact of Cyber Islamic Environment (CIE) exchanges on everyday life, this research project will push the boundaries of existing research on digital religion.
Hidden hardship: everyday experiences, copying strategies, and barriers to wellbeing in rural Britain
This research uses a participatory methodology to understand people’s experiences of hidden hardship in the rural North Cotswolds, Gloucestershire and it will investigate people’s hardship journeys, coping strategies and navigation of barriers to improved wellbeing.
Interfaith learning in Christian and Muslim higher education colleges
This project meets an urgent need to understand how students at UK Christian and Muslim HE colleges make sense of religious diversity and it is the first research of its kind to examine how different college climates enable or impede positive attitudes towards those of different faiths and worldview perspectives.
From the Heart: Testing the Efficacy of Heart-Centred Contemplation
The project presents three novelties in meditation research by expanding contemplative science, retaining its original other/God-centred focus, and using techniques which include core elements of heart visualisation.
