All in Religious Studies were greatly saddened to hear of the death of Dominic Kennedy on 16th June 2013. Dominic, who joined the OU as an Associate Lecturer in 1998, was a great supporter of the work of the department and had been closely involved with our ongoing efforts to maintain the quality of teaching and assessment.
Dominic studied Classics and Ancient History at University College London (1982) and Oriental Religious Studies at the School of African and Oriental Studies (1985). During his time with the OU he taught in both these areas, Classical Studies (Fifth-century Athens: democracy and city-state (A209), Exploring the classical world (A219), Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire (A309), Myth in the Greek and Roman worlds (A330)) and Religious Studies (World religions (A213) and Introducing religions (A217)), in the London and Cambridge regions. He took on a wide range of roles as a tutor, including participating in study days and teaching students in prison. Dominic was closely involved with World religions and Introducing religions, and over the years in addition to tutoring he was an examination script marker, a setter of examination and assignment questions, a monitor, the compiler of an online glossary for Introducing religions and more recently acted as moderator of the national online forum.
From 1975 Dominic studied and practised Buddhism, and from 1993 was a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and Dzogchen. In addition to his work for the OU, he was academic consultant and academic director of the Shang Shung Institute: The London School of Tibetan Studies, founded by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu in 2010. A non profit-making organisation whose central office in Italy was inaugurated by 14th Dalai Lama in 1990, its aim is to sustain and protect Tibetan culture. Dominic was particularly interested in the development of Dzogchen and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and, reflecting his longstanding interests in Classics and Religious Studies, in the links between the ancient Greeks and Buddhism at the confluence of the empires of Alexander the Great and Ashoka. These interests were reflected in his public lectures and writings, and he continued to write on these during his final illness.
Dominic made a considerable contribution to the success of two generations of introductory modules in the study of religions, and conversation enriched by his wide-ranging interests made routine meetings a more rewarding experience. He will be warmly remembered by his colleagues in Religious Studies, as well as by his regional colleagues and the students whom he taught.
Gwilym Beckerlegge
Chair, A217 Introducing Religions
What is the relevance of research on historical and contemporary religion for today? How might such research inform current debates on religion, and the practice and selfunderstanding of religious groups and practitioners? What might historical perspective bring to research on contemporary religion? This conference will address such issues under the broad theme of ‘contemporary religion and historical perspective’. There will be two parallel streams. The first is ‘engaging with the past to inform the present’ and the relevance of religious history for the contemporary context. The second is ‘the public value of research on contemporary religion’; here papers on cross-cultural identities and new religions and popular spiritualities are particularly welcomed. Due to demand for places this conference has now moved to a larger venue and we are able to open more panel slots. Please send a short (200-300 word) proposal for a 20 minute paper to Dr John Maiden (j.maiden@open.ac.uk) by 15 March 2013. To book a place please contact us by 23 March. Follow this link for more information. You can also download the full call for papers as a PDF file [34 KB].
Over the last two years the Protestant-Catholic Conflict research programme has been engaged in research on the history of religious tensions in England and, through an extensive series of interviews, on present-day attitudes in Northern Ireland. A central aim of the project is to seek to explore parallels between long-standing Protestant-Catholic tensions in the United Kingdom, and the more recent prominence of Christian-Muslim-secular tensions, and thereby to derive constructive insights for forward-looking thinking and policy.
A series of five seminars was scheduled for phase 2 of the programme. The seminars were held successfully in Belfast, London, Milton Keynes, Liverpool and Birmingham. Academics from other disciplines and non-academic stakeholders (both local and national) were invited to these events.
A public conference, Religious Difference and Conflict, was held in Belfast on 5-7 September 2012. This was co-sponsored and co-organised by the Open University and the Institute of Conflict Research. This event brought together academics and non-academic stakeholders. Find out more from the project's website.
In the first meeting of its kind, representatives from ten different mosques and Islamic associations in London came together on the 28th April at the London Muslim Centre (LMC) for the Exploring and Preserving Mosque Histories workshop, as part of the Building on History: Religion in London project of the Department of Religious Studies. The aim of the workshop was to show the importance of exploring and preserving the history and heritage of mosques and the communities that they serve. You can find out more about this from the project website.
Congratulations to Phil Sutherland and Mika Lassander, who were recently awarded their PhDs. The photograph shows them after the conferring ceremony held on April 1 2011 at the Barbican Centre, London.
The Religious Studies department is very sad to announce the death on 28 January of Dr Melanie Wright.
Melanie joined us as a Lecturer in Religious Studies in June 2007, with expertise in inter-religious relations and religion and media that added exciting dimensions to the department’s research culture. Melanie was an active and greatly valued member of the department, but retired in February 2010 on grounds of ill-health.
The Faculty has decided to withdraw the MA in Religious Studies. Whilst the MA has achieved high numbers in terms of the rest of the sector and has been enjoyed by those students currently studying it, numbers are not high enough to be sustainable. A880 will be presented for the last time in October 2012 and the final presentation of A881 will be in May 2014. Find out more about the MA.
You may like to note the following changes:
The final presentation of AD317 will start in February 2012. Registration for this final presentation closes on 14th December 2011.
After the current presentation, AA307 will start its final presentation in October 2012.
AD317 and AA307 are planned to be replaced by a single 60 credit level 3 module which is due to start in October 2013.
The Cross-Cultural Identities Research Group regularly holds seminars and other events. See our website for details of forthcoming and past events. Please get in touch if you would like to attend or if you would like to suggest an event, give a paper, etc.
On 5 March 2010, Religious Studies hosted an interdisciplinary seminar on ‘Climate Change: Science, Values, Creativity’. The following papers were presented:
It is hoped that this event will foster further interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue.
John Wolffe and Helen Waterhouse have been awarded a Collaborative Studentship under the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. The non-academic partner is Christian Education and the project title is From Sunday Schools to Christian Education: the Christian Formation of Contemporary Youth in Historical Perspective. Naomi Stanton, who has a background in Youth Work, has taken up the studentship.
Marion Bowman has been awarded £4,866 by the Higher Education Academy for a project titled “Helping to Bridge the Gap?". The project investigates ways in which RE teachers in UK schools can use open access Open University religious studies materials.
The AHRC-funded project Building on History: the Church in London has just launched its website. This knowledge exchange partnership, co-directed by Professor John Wolffe and involving The Open University, Kings College London and the Church of England, aims to transfer historical research regarding the Diocese of London in the long nineteenth century to the Church of England in the contemporary setting. The focus is on historical themes that resonate with the present situation in the diocese, such as secularisation, migration and Church extension/building/planting. Over the next two years the project will run seminars for leading diocesan figures and a series of training events for local clergy discussing these recurrent themes.
The current edition of Religion, 40 (2010) highlights the importance of the peer-review process as a means of assessing academic excellence. Because reviewers are seldom given credit for this important role, Religion has devoted its editorial to thanking those who have donated their time and expertise over 2008-9. Among the 154 academics from 24 countries acknowledged for this essential contribution to academic life are three members of the Open University Religious Studies Department, Gwilym Beckerlegge, Marion Bowman and Graham Harvey.