The University of Manchester

Faculty Member, Religions and Theology

Lecturer in Religions and Theology

About

I am currently a Lecturer in Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester. I convene the core module for our first year undergraduates, 'An Introduction to the Study of Religions and Theology' and teach on a number of other modules within the broad areas of the history of Christianity and Islamic Studies. 

In October 2011 I finished a Leverhulme Early Career Postdoctoral Fellowship in Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester. My two-year project is entitled Conversion, Conflict and Community in the Late Antique West. The project compared how both religious and political leaders moulded identities—‘religious’ and ‘ethnic’—to mark communal boundaries, foster commitment, and reinforce hierarchies. Although our sources (letters, church councils, and theological works) point toward bishops highlighting difference and conflict, they did so in order to cultivate belonging and community. The management of ideas of identity was thus fundamental to the institutionalisation and survival of the Christian Church in the post-Constantinian west.

My research interests include the following: the history of late Roman, Visigothic and Muslim Spain; late antique and early medieval historiography, particularly chronography; Isidore of Seville; Julian of Toledo; the martyrs of Córdoba; eschatology and apocalypticism in early medieval Spain; ethnic and religious identity in the early middle ages; identity and community formation; conflict and conflict resolution in the middle ages; ancient and medieval pedagogies, especially the relationship between violence and teaching; early medieval monasticism. 

From 2007-2009 I worked as an educational developer at the Centre for Inquiry-based learning in the Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sheffield. The role had a particular focus on inquiry-based learning, information literacy and the role of ICT in supporting student learning. I have continued to work and publish on innovative teaching and learning approaches. My areas of particular interest include: inquiry-based learning; information literacy; facilitating student learning; developing students presentation, writing and questioning skills; the use of web2.0 and virtual learning environments in teaching and learning. 

I am Academic Associate of the Higher Education Academy and since 2008 have worked as a consultant on educational enhancement projects at the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Salford and at Manchester Metropolitan University. I would welcome contact from anyone who is interested in collaborating on educational projects work in the future. 

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