Doctoral researcher profiles in Theology and Religion Back to 'Theology and Religion research' The Department of Theology and Religion has a vibrant postgraduate community, carrying out research in a broad range of areas. Some of our current Doctoral Researchers profiles and details of their research are listed below. Joshua Abrego Doctoral researcher PhD title: Pentecostal Theology and EmbodimentSupervisor: Dr Jeremy Kidwell and Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Farhan M Aldhafeeri Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Concept of The State in Contemporary Islamic Thought, Abdallah Al-Nafisi Case study Supervisors: Stephen H. Jones Home country: Saudi ArabiaPhD Theology and Religion Haya Alqasem Doctoral researcher PhD title: Analysing and Summarizing the Recent Approaches to Reread the Qurʾān by Muḥammad Shaḥrūr and ʿAdnān al-RifāʿīSupervisor: Professor Oliver ScharbrodtPhD Theology and Religion Chris Anthony Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The theological roots of Word of Fatih Supervisor: Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Leo Barnard Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Quakers and Mental Health: The Inward Light in a secular setting Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion, Dr Rebecca Wynter, Professor Lisa BortolottiPhD Theology and Religion Clark Bates Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Oecumenian Catenae of Ephesians: Critical Edition, Translation and Theological InteractionSupervisors: Professor Hugh Houghton and Dr Catherine SmithPhD Theology and Religion Kelvin Beer-Jones Doctoral researcher PhD title: A Historical Data Digital Toolkit – New ways of exploring large catalogues and indexes to 19c archival collections, focusing on the social networks amongst Quakers and others who contributed to the discipline of anthropology in Britain 1830 -1870.Supervisors: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Dr Catherine SmithPhD Theology and Religion Saarah Bokhari Doctoral researcher PhD title: How does the Concept of a Militarised Endeavour Shed Light on the Spiritual Philosophy of Greater Jihad in Islam? A Shia Exegesis.Supervisors: Professor Oliver Scharbrodt and Dr Yafa Shanneik PhD Theology and Religion Erica Canela Doctoral researcher PhD title: Quakers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire: From the Civil Wars to Toleration c.1640 - 1708Supervisors: Dr Richard C. Allen and Dr Rosemary MoorePhD Theology and Religion Peter Chin Doctoral researcher PhD title: Transformational Leadership and Fatherly Attributes of Lead Pastors in the National Capital Region of the Philippines and its Relationship to Church Effectiveness Supervisors: Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Ranganai Charles Chipere Doctoral Researcher PhD title: An Analysis of the Theology of Experience as the major distinctive of Pentecostalism Supervisors: Professor Allan Anderson and Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Alex Clare-Young Doctoral researcher PhD title: Trans-formations: A grounded theology, rooted in the identities, experiences and understandings of trans and non-binary ChristiansSupervisors: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Dr Elliot EvansPhD Theology and Religion Ian Cook Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Occupations of Quakers in the 18th Century and their Interaction with the Wider Economy, Including a Case Study of the Iron Industry Supervisor: Ben Pink DandelionPhD Theology and Religion Michael DeVries Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Purity and Defilement in the Qumran War Tradition and Eschatological ImaginationSupervisor: Professor Charlotte HempelPhD Theology and Religion Joseph Dutko Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Equal in the End: An Eschatological Approach to the Pentecostal Gender Paradox Supervisor: Wolfgang Vondey Home country: CanadaPhD Theology and Religion Antonin Ficatier Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Applying Bruno Latour’s Theory of the Actors to Theology: an Experiment in Theology of the Network for the Digital Age Supervisors: Dr Jeremy H. Kidwell and Professor David CheethamPhD Theology and Religion Mark Frankel Doctoral Researcher PhD title: T. Edmund Harvey: politician of conscience Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion, Professor Hugh McLeodPhD Theology and Religion Bellamin Gomez Doctoral researcher PhD title: Fuego Libertador: Towards a Liberative Decolonizing Pentecostal PneumatologySupervisors: Dr Daniela Augustine and Dr Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Frédérique Green Doctoral Researcher PhD title: An analysis of the dialogical exchange between the American politico-legal system and the Amish Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion PhD Theology and Religion Chesarae Hall-Fletcher Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Role of Pentecostal Altar Space in Engagement with GodSupervisor: Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Ahmed Ibrahim Janahi Doctoral researcher PhD title: Changing legal affiliation in Mamlūk Egypt and Syria From 1150 – 1517Supervisor: Professor Oliver ScharbrodtPhD Theology and Religion Nahid Khan Doctoral researcher PhD title: ‘Adoption is not prohibited in Islam, it is misunderstood.’Supervisor: Dr Katherine E. BrownPhD Theology and Religion Matthew Korpman Doctoral researcher PhD title: Foolish Wisdom: Rediscovering the Parable of the Ten VirginsSupervisors: Professor Candida Moss and Professor Charlotte HempelPhD Theology and Religion Karl Leung Doctoral researcher PhD title: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding the Semantics of the Kingdom of God In Luke’s GospelSupervisors: Dr Karen Wenell and Dr Andrew DaviesPhD Theology and Religion Chris Lord Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Quaker understanding of non-human animals: insights from a Wittgensteinian analysis Supervisor: Dr Rhiannon GrantPhD Theology and Religion Krisztina Mair Doctoral researcher PhD title: Religious EpistemologySupervisors: Professor David Cheetham and Professor Yujin NagasawaPhD Theology and Religion Oscar Malande Doctoral researcher PhD title: Studies in African Christianity focusing on the development and growth of African QuakerismSupervisors: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Professor Francis DavisPhD Theology and Religion Chee Man Tang, Michael Doctoral researcher PhD title: Searching for God in popular music: the hidden divine spirit in the Icelandic post rock band - Sigur RósSupervisor: Professor David CheethamHome country: Hong KongPhD Theology and Religion Jacopo Marcon Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Romans Supervisor: Professor Hugh HoughtonPhD Theology and Religion Harriet McInerney Doctoral researcher PhD title: A critical examination of the sexual and religious lives of bisexual+ Church of England 18- to 25-year-oldsSupervisors: Dr Karen Wenell and Dr Sarah HallPhD Theology and Religion Sheryl Metzgner Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Queer Freedom? Mystagogic Encounters of Poststructural Christian Spiritual Transformations in LGBTQ Persons Supervisors: Deryn Guest (primary); Ben Pink Dandelion (secondary) Home country: CanadaPhD Theology and Religion Timothy N. Mitchell Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Family Π and the Codex Macedonianus (034) in the Synoptic Gospels Supervisor: Dr Hugh HoughtonPhD Theology and Religion Glen A. Morrison Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Church Growth Models and the Early Quaker Movement Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion Home country: USAPhD Theology and Religion Philip Morton Doctoral researcher PhD title: Does the use of Selection Criteria aid or hinder human intuition in the Discernment process? The Development and Use of Selection Criteria in the Church of England and how this might inform Ecclesiological Praxis in Assessment of Candidates.Supervisors: Dr Amy DaughtonPractical Theology Doctorate Abigail Naidu Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Temple Scroll: A Comprehensive Literary and Material Analysis Supervisors: Professor Charlotte Hempel and Dr Cat QuinePhD Theology and Religion Rachel Nelson Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Manifesting the New Being: A Comparative Analysis of the Existentialism of Paul Tillich and Jean-Paul Sartre and its Implications for Pneumatology Supervisors: Dr David CheethamPhD Theology and Religion Nelson Kalombo Ngoy Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Decolonizing Missions in Postcolonial Luba-Heartland of Central Africa: Recovering the Voices of the Voiceless Supervisors: Dr Daniela C. Augustine, Professor Allan Anderson and Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Alisha Paddock Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Sacred Space in New Testament ekklēsiai Supervisor: Karen Wenell and Charlotte Hempel Home country: USAPhD Theology and Religion Andrew Patton Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Development of the Catenae on the GospelsSupervisors: Professor Hugh Houghton and Dr Catherine SmithPhD Theology and Religion Thameem Sainulabdeen Doctoral researcher PhD title: Innocuous Alterity: The Representation of Sri Lanka in Medieval IslamSupervisors: Professor Oliver Scharbrodt and Dr Sophia VasalouPhD Theology and Religion Sarah Schofield Doctoral researcher PhD title: Female priests in the Church of England, flourishing and diminishment. How has the experience of the first generation of ‘normally' ordained female priests been shaped by the institutional culture of the Church of England? Supervisors: Dr Isabel Wollaston, Dr Amy Daughton, Dr Deryn GuestPhD Theology and Religion Emanuele Scieri Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Catenae on the Acts of the Apostles Supervisor: Professor Hugh Houghton (80%), Dr Catherine Smith (10%), Dr Georgi Parpulov (10%)PhD Theology and Religion Iain Shaw Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Ministers’ Lived Experience of the Reasons for Suffering and EvilSupervisor: Dr Amy Daughton and Professor Yujin NagasawaPhD Theology and Religion Anna Shirav Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Ezekiel Traditions from the Corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Light of 4QPseudo-Ezekiel Supervisor: Professor Charlotte Hempel and Professor Hugh HoughtonPhD Theology and Religion Zoë Simms Doctoral Researcher PhD title: An examination of whether exposure to Quaker values at school affects adult character Supervisor: Professor Emeritus Anne WatsonPhD Theology and Religion Nicola Sleap Doctoral researcher PhD title : Quakers, Business and Change in the Twentieth Century Supervisor : Ben Pink Dandelion PhD Theology and Religion (Quaker Studies specialism) Nathanael Somanathan Doctoral researcher PhD title: Theological Anthropology from the intersection between Pentecostalism and Eastern Orthodoxy for a South Asian Buddhist contextSupervisors: Dr Daniela Augustine (80%); Professor Wolfgang Vondey (20%)PhD Theology and Religion David Tatum Doctoral researcher PhD title: The doctrine of the immortal soul and the mortality of JesusSupervisors: Dr Rhiannon Grant, Co-Supervisors Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Professor Candida MossPhD Theology and Religion Andrew D. Thrasher Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Belief After Secular: Late Modern Imaginaries of Belief Supervisor: Professor David Cheetham and Professor Nicholas AdamsPhD Theology and Religion Ryan Turnbull Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Toward a Christian Grammar of Place Supervisors: Jeremy Kidwell and Karen Wenell Home country: CanadaPhD Theology and Religion Faith Van Horne Doctoral researcher PhD title: A Pentecostal Theological Approach to Atonement for Survivors of Sexual AbuseSupervisor: Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion Eleanor Vivian Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Function of Metaphor in the Depictions of Disability in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea ScrollsSupervisors: Professor Charlotte Hempel, Professor Candida Moss and Professor Jeannette LittlemorePhD Theology and Religion Anna Wilde Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Death Positive MovementSupervisors: Dr Rhiannon Grant and Dr Andrew DaviesPhD Theology and Religion
Joshua Abrego Doctoral researcher PhD title: Pentecostal Theology and EmbodimentSupervisor: Dr Jeremy Kidwell and Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Farhan M Aldhafeeri Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Concept of The State in Contemporary Islamic Thought, Abdallah Al-Nafisi Case study Supervisors: Stephen H. Jones Home country: Saudi ArabiaPhD Theology and Religion
Haya Alqasem Doctoral researcher PhD title: Analysing and Summarizing the Recent Approaches to Reread the Qurʾān by Muḥammad Shaḥrūr and ʿAdnān al-RifāʿīSupervisor: Professor Oliver ScharbrodtPhD Theology and Religion
Chris Anthony Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The theological roots of Word of Fatih Supervisor: Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Leo Barnard Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Quakers and Mental Health: The Inward Light in a secular setting Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion, Dr Rebecca Wynter, Professor Lisa BortolottiPhD Theology and Religion
Clark Bates Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Oecumenian Catenae of Ephesians: Critical Edition, Translation and Theological InteractionSupervisors: Professor Hugh Houghton and Dr Catherine SmithPhD Theology and Religion
Kelvin Beer-Jones Doctoral researcher PhD title: A Historical Data Digital Toolkit – New ways of exploring large catalogues and indexes to 19c archival collections, focusing on the social networks amongst Quakers and others who contributed to the discipline of anthropology in Britain 1830 -1870.Supervisors: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Dr Catherine SmithPhD Theology and Religion
Saarah Bokhari Doctoral researcher PhD title: How does the Concept of a Militarised Endeavour Shed Light on the Spiritual Philosophy of Greater Jihad in Islam? A Shia Exegesis.Supervisors: Professor Oliver Scharbrodt and Dr Yafa Shanneik PhD Theology and Religion
Erica Canela Doctoral researcher PhD title: Quakers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire: From the Civil Wars to Toleration c.1640 - 1708Supervisors: Dr Richard C. Allen and Dr Rosemary MoorePhD Theology and Religion
Peter Chin Doctoral researcher PhD title: Transformational Leadership and Fatherly Attributes of Lead Pastors in the National Capital Region of the Philippines and its Relationship to Church Effectiveness Supervisors: Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Ranganai Charles Chipere Doctoral Researcher PhD title: An Analysis of the Theology of Experience as the major distinctive of Pentecostalism Supervisors: Professor Allan Anderson and Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Alex Clare-Young Doctoral researcher PhD title: Trans-formations: A grounded theology, rooted in the identities, experiences and understandings of trans and non-binary ChristiansSupervisors: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Dr Elliot EvansPhD Theology and Religion
Ian Cook Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Occupations of Quakers in the 18th Century and their Interaction with the Wider Economy, Including a Case Study of the Iron Industry Supervisor: Ben Pink DandelionPhD Theology and Religion
Michael DeVries Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Purity and Defilement in the Qumran War Tradition and Eschatological ImaginationSupervisor: Professor Charlotte HempelPhD Theology and Religion
Joseph Dutko Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Equal in the End: An Eschatological Approach to the Pentecostal Gender Paradox Supervisor: Wolfgang Vondey Home country: CanadaPhD Theology and Religion
Antonin Ficatier Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Applying Bruno Latour’s Theory of the Actors to Theology: an Experiment in Theology of the Network for the Digital Age Supervisors: Dr Jeremy H. Kidwell and Professor David CheethamPhD Theology and Religion
Mark Frankel Doctoral Researcher PhD title: T. Edmund Harvey: politician of conscience Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion, Professor Hugh McLeodPhD Theology and Religion
Bellamin Gomez Doctoral researcher PhD title: Fuego Libertador: Towards a Liberative Decolonizing Pentecostal PneumatologySupervisors: Dr Daniela Augustine and Dr Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Frédérique Green Doctoral Researcher PhD title: An analysis of the dialogical exchange between the American politico-legal system and the Amish Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion PhD Theology and Religion
Chesarae Hall-Fletcher Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Role of Pentecostal Altar Space in Engagement with GodSupervisor: Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Ahmed Ibrahim Janahi Doctoral researcher PhD title: Changing legal affiliation in Mamlūk Egypt and Syria From 1150 – 1517Supervisor: Professor Oliver ScharbrodtPhD Theology and Religion
Nahid Khan Doctoral researcher PhD title: ‘Adoption is not prohibited in Islam, it is misunderstood.’Supervisor: Dr Katherine E. BrownPhD Theology and Religion
Matthew Korpman Doctoral researcher PhD title: Foolish Wisdom: Rediscovering the Parable of the Ten VirginsSupervisors: Professor Candida Moss and Professor Charlotte HempelPhD Theology and Religion
Karl Leung Doctoral researcher PhD title: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding the Semantics of the Kingdom of God In Luke’s GospelSupervisors: Dr Karen Wenell and Dr Andrew DaviesPhD Theology and Religion
Chris Lord Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Quaker understanding of non-human animals: insights from a Wittgensteinian analysis Supervisor: Dr Rhiannon GrantPhD Theology and Religion
Krisztina Mair Doctoral researcher PhD title: Religious EpistemologySupervisors: Professor David Cheetham and Professor Yujin NagasawaPhD Theology and Religion
Oscar Malande Doctoral researcher PhD title: Studies in African Christianity focusing on the development and growth of African QuakerismSupervisors: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Professor Francis DavisPhD Theology and Religion
Chee Man Tang, Michael Doctoral researcher PhD title: Searching for God in popular music: the hidden divine spirit in the Icelandic post rock band - Sigur RósSupervisor: Professor David CheethamHome country: Hong KongPhD Theology and Religion
Jacopo Marcon Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Romans Supervisor: Professor Hugh HoughtonPhD Theology and Religion
Harriet McInerney Doctoral researcher PhD title: A critical examination of the sexual and religious lives of bisexual+ Church of England 18- to 25-year-oldsSupervisors: Dr Karen Wenell and Dr Sarah HallPhD Theology and Religion
Sheryl Metzgner Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Queer Freedom? Mystagogic Encounters of Poststructural Christian Spiritual Transformations in LGBTQ Persons Supervisors: Deryn Guest (primary); Ben Pink Dandelion (secondary) Home country: CanadaPhD Theology and Religion
Timothy N. Mitchell Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Family Π and the Codex Macedonianus (034) in the Synoptic Gospels Supervisor: Dr Hugh HoughtonPhD Theology and Religion
Glen A. Morrison Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Church Growth Models and the Early Quaker Movement Supervisor: Professor Ben Pink Dandelion Home country: USAPhD Theology and Religion
Philip Morton Doctoral researcher PhD title: Does the use of Selection Criteria aid or hinder human intuition in the Discernment process? The Development and Use of Selection Criteria in the Church of England and how this might inform Ecclesiological Praxis in Assessment of Candidates.Supervisors: Dr Amy DaughtonPractical Theology Doctorate
Abigail Naidu Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Temple Scroll: A Comprehensive Literary and Material Analysis Supervisors: Professor Charlotte Hempel and Dr Cat QuinePhD Theology and Religion
Rachel Nelson Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Manifesting the New Being: A Comparative Analysis of the Existentialism of Paul Tillich and Jean-Paul Sartre and its Implications for Pneumatology Supervisors: Dr David CheethamPhD Theology and Religion
Nelson Kalombo Ngoy Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Decolonizing Missions in Postcolonial Luba-Heartland of Central Africa: Recovering the Voices of the Voiceless Supervisors: Dr Daniela C. Augustine, Professor Allan Anderson and Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Alisha Paddock Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Sacred Space in New Testament ekklēsiai Supervisor: Karen Wenell and Charlotte Hempel Home country: USAPhD Theology and Religion
Andrew Patton Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Development of the Catenae on the GospelsSupervisors: Professor Hugh Houghton and Dr Catherine SmithPhD Theology and Religion
Thameem Sainulabdeen Doctoral researcher PhD title: Innocuous Alterity: The Representation of Sri Lanka in Medieval IslamSupervisors: Professor Oliver Scharbrodt and Dr Sophia VasalouPhD Theology and Religion
Sarah Schofield Doctoral researcher PhD title: Female priests in the Church of England, flourishing and diminishment. How has the experience of the first generation of ‘normally' ordained female priests been shaped by the institutional culture of the Church of England? Supervisors: Dr Isabel Wollaston, Dr Amy Daughton, Dr Deryn GuestPhD Theology and Religion
Emanuele Scieri Doctoral Researcher PhD title: The Catenae on the Acts of the Apostles Supervisor: Professor Hugh Houghton (80%), Dr Catherine Smith (10%), Dr Georgi Parpulov (10%)PhD Theology and Religion
Iain Shaw Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Ministers’ Lived Experience of the Reasons for Suffering and EvilSupervisor: Dr Amy Daughton and Professor Yujin NagasawaPhD Theology and Religion
Anna Shirav Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Ezekiel Traditions from the Corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Light of 4QPseudo-Ezekiel Supervisor: Professor Charlotte Hempel and Professor Hugh HoughtonPhD Theology and Religion
Zoë Simms Doctoral Researcher PhD title: An examination of whether exposure to Quaker values at school affects adult character Supervisor: Professor Emeritus Anne WatsonPhD Theology and Religion
Nicola Sleap Doctoral researcher PhD title : Quakers, Business and Change in the Twentieth Century Supervisor : Ben Pink Dandelion PhD Theology and Religion (Quaker Studies specialism)
Nathanael Somanathan Doctoral researcher PhD title: Theological Anthropology from the intersection between Pentecostalism and Eastern Orthodoxy for a South Asian Buddhist contextSupervisors: Dr Daniela Augustine (80%); Professor Wolfgang Vondey (20%)PhD Theology and Religion
David Tatum Doctoral researcher PhD title: The doctrine of the immortal soul and the mortality of JesusSupervisors: Dr Rhiannon Grant, Co-Supervisors Professor Ben Pink Dandelion and Professor Candida MossPhD Theology and Religion
Andrew D. Thrasher Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Belief After Secular: Late Modern Imaginaries of Belief Supervisor: Professor David Cheetham and Professor Nicholas AdamsPhD Theology and Religion
Ryan Turnbull Doctoral Researcher PhD title: Toward a Christian Grammar of Place Supervisors: Jeremy Kidwell and Karen Wenell Home country: CanadaPhD Theology and Religion
Faith Van Horne Doctoral researcher PhD title: A Pentecostal Theological Approach to Atonement for Survivors of Sexual AbuseSupervisor: Professor Wolfgang VondeyPhD Theology and Religion
Eleanor Vivian Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Function of Metaphor in the Depictions of Disability in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea ScrollsSupervisors: Professor Charlotte Hempel, Professor Candida Moss and Professor Jeannette LittlemorePhD Theology and Religion
Anna Wilde Doctoral researcher PhD title: The Death Positive MovementSupervisors: Dr Rhiannon Grant and Dr Andrew DaviesPhD Theology and Religion