Team

Meet our team. You can send us a message via our Contact page, and our e-mail / telephone details can be found at the bottom of each screen.

Professor David Ford – Director
David is the Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme. He is an Anglican theologian and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, where he has taught since 1991. He is a Fellow of Selwyn College. Previously David taught for 15 years at the University of Birmingham. His work in the area of Christian theology has been inspired by post-liberal and narrative theology. David is one of the founders of Scriptural Reasoning and has been extensively involved in generating new modes of engagement for inter-faith relations in the post-9/11 world. He is the author of (among others) Christian Wisdom: Desiring God and Learning in Love (2007) and co-editor of The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning (2006), and Fields of Faith: Theology and Religious Studies for the Twenty-First Century (2005).

Dr Mike Higton – Academic Co-Director
Mike is the Academic Co-Director of CIP, which means that his primary responsibility is to look after CIP's grant-funded research projects and other research activities.
Mike has been involved in Scriptural Reasoning since 2003, and has written (with his friend and colleague Rachel Muers) a book drawing on that experience: The Text in Play: Experiments in Reading Scripture (Wipf and Stock, 2012).
He is on a three-year secondment from the University of Exeter, where he is a Senior Lecturer in Christian theology, and he is the author of several other books, including A Theology of Higher Education (OUP, 2012) and Christian Doctrine (2008).

Mr Michael Wakelin - Director, Cambridge Coexist Programme
Michael worked for BBC Religious Broadcasting for 23 years producing programmes on all BBC TV and Radio networks eventually becoming Head of Religion and Ethics in 2006. He is now Director of the Cambridge Coexist Programme, a consultant on matters relating to religion and the media and is still involved in broadcasting  through his work with TBI Media. Michael studied Theology at Birmingham University.  

Ms Miriam Lorie – External Relations Officer
As CIP’s External Relations Officer, Miriam manages CIP’s Public Education projects, and CIP’s PR and Communications.
Miriam studied Theology and Religious Studies at the Cambridge University Faculty of Divinity. It was here that she joined a Scriptural Reasoning group, and first found out about CIP’s work.
Miriam has spent a year studying at an Orthodox Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, and is a graduate of the Susi Bradfield Educators Fellowship at the London School of Jewish Studies. Before joining CIP in 2009, she worked at the Woolf Institute.

Mrs Barbara Bennett – Administrator
Barbara is the administrator for the Cambridge Inter-faith programme with responsibility for the day to day running of the office and also for providing administrative support to the team. This includes organising public events and supporting academic conferences, research projects and the annual CIP Summer School. In her spare time she enjoys running and is also learning Arabic. She has worked for CIP since December 2008 and has a degree in Theology from the University of Hull.

The religion and the idea of a Research University Team
(Left to right)
Dr José Liht - Research Associate
As the researcher assigned to the Department of Psychiatry, José looks at the role that religion plays in psychiatrists' education. In particular, José is looking at how religious coping behaviour is understood by those working in the mental health field; if as competing or complementary knowledge.
José studied psychology in and then trained as an object relations oriented therapist. During his clinical training he became interested in the relationship between psychology and religion. After practising as a psychotherapist for 5 years and obtaining his PhD, José joined the Psychology and Religion Research Group where he worked on the prevention of violent extremism.
Dr Alison Wood - Research Associate
Alison joined CIP in September 2011 and is the project's liaison with the Faculty of English. Trained in literature and music she worked for several years as a pianist before undertaking MA research on opera (Adelaide). A burgeoning interest in literature and science prompted a move to King's College London and a PhD on the eminent but largely forgotten British taxonomist and Darwinian, the Rev. TRR Stebbing (1835-1926). She is currently transforming this research into a monograph whilst also exploring the relations between poetics, natural history and religion in late nineteenth century Britain.
Dr James Golden - Research Associate
James is a Research Associate on the ‘Religion and the Idea of a Research University’ project, serving as the History Liaison. Previously, he read Divinity at Edinburgh University, followed by an MSc in History from the same institution. James then moved to Hertford College, Oxford, receiving a DPhil in Modern History in August, 2011. His research focuses on the relationship between religion and politics in the Nineteenth Century, particularly studying state churches, universities, and urban and associational culture.
Miss Joy Haughton - Administrator (photograph to come)
Joy is Administrator to the Religion and the Idea of a Research University project. In her two day a week role, Joy assists the project team with a range of tasks, including organising events, and is currently in the process of setting up a project website.
Joy studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and has since had a number of interesting jobs around the city, including a project management role at Addenbrookes Hospital and as assistant to an agony aunt and author. She is delighted to be back in the University and thoroughly enjoying CIP life!

The SCRIPTURAL REASONING online project
(Left to right)
Dr Hilary Marlow - Research Associate
Hilary joined CIP in September 2011 as the Research Associate in Christian Scriptures for the new Scriptural Reasoning online project.
She first encountered Scriptural Reasoning while studying for her PhD on reading biblical prophets in the light of environmental ethics in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University.
Since then she has worked as a Research Associate in theology and the environment for the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and as a temporary lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity, where she currently also teaches Biblical Hebrew to undergraduates.
Miss Zainab Balogun - Web Developer
Zainab is the Front-end Web developer on CIP’s Scriptural Reasoning online project. She completed her undergraduate degree in Computer science in Nigeria before coming to the UK in 2008 for a Master’s degree in Software Engineering and has since being living and working in the UK.  Prior to joining CIP, Zainab has worked on various web development projects for Bond Media based in London and is actively involved in development and managing software/web development projects individually. She is a member of The IET (Institute of Electronics and Technology), IEEE(Institute of Electrical Electronic Engineers) and IEEE computer society. She holds a Diploma in Web design and programming  in addition to other IT Certification. Zainab is currently enjoying her move to Cambridge and the exposure to Scriptural Reasoning.
Dr Rim Hassen - Research Associate
Rim is a Research Associate at CIP. Before joining the CIP team, she completed her undergraduate studies in Belgium and worked in the private sector in Belgium, Germany and the UK. She then completed a PhD in Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick, on women's translations of the Quran into English. In addition to her involvement in Scriptural Reasoning , her other research interests include translations of religious texts, gender in translation and Arab women's literary writings translated into English, French and German.

Mrs Frances Clemson - Research Associate
Frances joined the team in 2011. She assists the Director of CIP, Professor David Ford, in his research. She also handles correspondence related to Professor Ford’s work on CIP projects.
Frances studied history at the University of Oxford and theology at the University of Exeter. Her recent doctoral research focused on the relationship between Christian theology and dramatic performance. Before coming to Cambridge she worked as a member of the chaplaincy team at the University of Exeter and as a teaching assistant on a programme for Church of England ordinands.

Dr David Grumett - Research Associate
As Research Associate, David has published widely on modern French Catholic theology and the theology of material practice. In recent work he has shown how food has been as significant in Christianity as in other religions, and has explored the place of diet in interreligious encounter. David is Treasurer of the Society for the Study of Theology and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His website is www.davidgrumett.com.

Dr Jake Andrews - Research Associate (photograph to come)

Jake is a research associate in CIP, assisting the academic co-director. Prior to taking up the post, Jake was an associate lecturer of theology and a research fellow in classics at the University of St Andrews. He studied English literature and creative writing at the University of Alabama before turning to postgraduate work in theology, receiving his PhD in Divinity from the University of Aberdeen in 2009. His monograph, Hermeneutics and the Church: In Dialogue with Augustine, is forthcoming with University of Notre Dame Press. In addition to these academic pursuits, it is not uncommon for Jake to spend hours talking about awesome television shows.

Mrs Carol Hosmer - Secretary
Carol joined the CIP team in September 2011 as part-time secretary to assist Barbara in the general administration work.
Prior to joining CIP, Carol worked in the Law Faculty in the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law for two years.  Before that, Carol worked as the Tutorial Administrator for Churchill College for 17 years and at Lucy Cavendish College for 5 years.