New on the Religion in Public blog
Our Centre's weblog Religion in Public has recently featured several items worth reading:
- As Researcher of the Month: August, the blog featured PhD student Megan Robertson from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, who shares with us about her research into queer clergy in the Methodist Church in South Africa.
- As Researcher of the Month: June, the blog featured PhD student Jamys Carter, who shares with us his journey into researching biblical interpretation and women's ordination in the Elim Pentecostal church.
- Guest contributor Rhine Toby Koloti wrote a report of the "Economies of Violence" symposium that took place at the Desmond Tutu Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.
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New book by Dr Caroline Starkey: Women in British Buddhism
 We are delighted to announce the publication of CRPL member Dr Caroline Starkey's book, entitled Women in British Buddhism: Commitment, Connection, Community. The monograph was published in the Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism series. The book is based on her ethnographic research with ordained Buddhist women across seven different Buddhist traditions in England, Scotland and Wales, examining such varied ideas as conversion, ordination, religious discipline and dress, gender equality and feminism, and the importance of the British locality in shaping Buddhist women's religious practices.
She answered questions about her book for readers of the Religion in Public blog.
A formal book launch will be held on Saturday 16th November (early evening) at Jamyang Buddhist Centre in Leeds. All are welcome - please RSVP to Dr Starkey. More information about the book is available on the publisher's website.
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New book by Dr Adriaan van Klinken: Kenyan, Christian, Queer
 We congratulate CRPL member Dr Adriaan van Klinken with the publication of his monograph, Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism, and Arts of Resistance in Africa. The book was published in the Africana Religions series with Penn State University Press.
Where popular narratives cite religion as the driving force behind homophobia in Africa, portraying Christianity and LGBT expression as incompatible, this book presents an alternative narrative, foregrounding the ways in which religion also appears as a critical site of LGBT activism. Taking up the notion of “arts of resistance,” Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents four case studies of grassroots LGBT activism through artistic and creative expressions. Through these case studies, the book demonstrates how Kenyan traditions, black African identities, and Christian beliefs and practices are being navigated, appropriated, and transformed in order to allow for queer Kenyan Christian imaginations.
Please read more about the book in the Q&A we did with the author for the Religion in Public blog. The book will be launched on Wednesday 18 September at the British Institute in Nairobi, and on Thursday 14 November (4pm) at the Emmanuel Centre in Leeds. To attend the Leeds book launch, please RSVP to Sarah Ashbridge (Centre for African Studies).
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First independent report into UK Hajj industry
 CRPL member Prof Sean McLoughlin has recently released the first independent major report into the UK Hajj industry. The report reveals a sector that is rapidly expanding and changing – and becoming increasingly expensive for British Muslims. Written in partnership with the Council of British Hajjis, the report recommends measures to protect pilgrims from conflicting information – including about Hajj travel and Saudi visa guidance – and a UK industry kitemark. Please read the full article introducing the report and the underlying research here.
The research contributing to Mapping the UK Hajj Sector: Moving Towards Communication and Consensus was funded by the AHRC, British Academy and a Leeds Social Sciences Institute ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. The full 30k word report is now available at a dedicated website. Please contact Prof McLoughlin for a hard copy.
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Research seminar with Dr Emily Colgan
 On 10 September, Dr Emily Colgan (Trinity Theological College, Aotearoa, New Zealand) will give a CRPL research presentation entitled “Let Him Romance You”: Rape Culture and Gender Violence in Evangelical Christian Self-Help Literature. The seminar is open to anyone with an interest in the subject.
Find here further details about the presentation and the speaker.
Tuesday 10 September 2019, 11:30 – 13:00.
Venue: Botany House (1.03)
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Research seminar with Dr Valeriya Gazizova
On 3 October, Dr Vale riya Gazizova (University of Cambridge) will give a CRPL research presentation about dissident Buddhist lamas in Soviet Kalmykia. The title of her presentation is ‘Secret lamas’ of the Soviet era as a locus of public worship in provincial ‘Asian Russia’.
The seminar is open to anyone with an interest in the subject.
Thursday 3 October 2019, 11:30 – 13:00.
Venue: Botany House (1.03)
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Inaugural lecture Professor Johanna Stiebert
On Thursday  10 October, CRPL member Dr Johanna Stiebert will deliver her inaugural lecture as Professor of Hebrew Bible. The title of the lecture is "'Why I Love Studying the Bible even though (and because) It's Perverse".
10 October, 4:30pm (followed by a drinks reception)
Venue: Liberty Building (Moot Court) LT (1.28)
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Hook lecture by Canon Mark Oakley: Poets, Prophets and Protestors: The shape of things to come?
The Hook Lecture stimulates debate around an issue of faith in the context of Leeds. The event is organised jointly by Leeds Church Institute, Leeds Minster and the School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science at the University of Leeds.
We are delighted that this year's lecture will be given on Friday 27th Sept at 7:30pm by Canon Mark Oakley, Dean of St John’s College, Cambridge and formerly at St Paul's Cathedral. He will speak on Poets, Prophets and Protesters: The shape of things to come?
For more information, and to register, please check here.
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Project Bonhoeffer Conference: Faith in Our Democracy
CRPL member Professor Rachel Muers is involved in the organisation of a day conference hosted by Project Bonhoeffer, addressing the timely theme "Faith in Our Democracy".
The conference takes place at St Georges Conference Centre on October 26th. Join us for a day of keynote speakers, including Professor Tom Greggs of Aberdeen, and an afternoon of workshops to leave you with the drive and ideas to help build Faith in Our Democracy. More information can be found here.
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CRPL Research Seminars and Events
The CRPL runs fortnightly research seminars on Thursdays, 11:30-13:00, taking place in the Botany House seminar room 1.03.
- Tuesday 10 September 2019, 11:30 – 13:00: CRPL seminar with Dr Emily Colgan, about Rape culture and gender violence in Evangelical Christian self-help literature. Venue: Botany house 1.03, University of Leeds campus.
- Thursday 3 October, 11:30-13:00: CRPL seminar with Dr Valeriya Gazizova (University of Cambridge).
- Thursday 10 October, 4:30pm: Inaugural lecture of Johanna Stiebert as Professor of Hebrew Bible. Venue: Liberty Building (Moot Court) LT (1.28). Followed by a drinks reception.
- Thursday 17 October, 11:30-13:00: CRPL seminar with Dr Abel Ugba (University of Leeds).
- 14 November, 16:00-18:00: Launch of Adriaan van Klinken's book, Kenyan, Christian, Queer. Venue: Emmanuel Centre, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds.
- 16 November, 18:00-20:00, Launch of Caroline Starkey's book, Women in British Buddhism. Venue: Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Leeds.
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ABOUT THE Centre for Religion and Public Life
The Centre for Religion and Public Life at the University of Leeds is a hub for research into the important, and increasingly contentious, role of religion in public life in the world today, both locally, nationally and internationally. It provide a forum in which contemporary research and scholarship can be debated and disseminated. The Centre works closely with non-academic partners to identify the ways in which religion is relevant to their work and to produce research that is capable of meeting their need to better understand the nature of religion and religious organisations locally, nationally and internationally.
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