Convenors and contributors

Summer Schools with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme are co-productive and this year is no exception. Summer School participants will bring an important dimension to all our conversations. We encourage you to engage through asking questions and reflecting on your own contexts and experience.

Dr Anastasia Badder is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Divinity and Cambridge Interfaith Programme at the University of Cambridge.  Trained as an anthropologist, Anastasia’s work is often interdisciplinary and committed to collaborative research, thinking, and theorizing.  

Much of Anastasia’s work ethnographically explores Jewish lives and languages in Europe.  Some more recent projects delve into the materiality of religious life and especially of interreligious encounters, including ongoing research around the potential for object-oriented activity to facilitate challenging interreligious exchanges. 

Anastasia is also exploring religious encounters with and oriented around the environment.  She recently completed a short-term ethnography of the ways Cambridge’s religious communities use and value water and continues to explore religious relations with water. The results are available to read in the report, Water in/and religion: A Cambridge study (CIP, 2023).

Dr Chris Chaplin is an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow working on the Global Religious Pluralities research project at the LSE Religion and Global Society Unit. Receiving his PhD from the University of Cambridge, Chris’ research straddles between the fields of anthropology and politics. He is particularly focused on exploring the convergence between global Islamic doctrines and local understandings of piety and faith, and how these come to inform civic values, concepts of religious and political belonging, and social activism within Southeast Asia. From a methodological and theoretical standpoint, he is interested in investigating how reflexive approaches to ethnography can provide a transformative space through which to create new dialogues between anthropological practice and religious doctrines. Prior to joining the LSE, Chris worked for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Research Analysts Cadre. He has also worked for academic and non-governmental bodies including the Royal Netherlands Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies and Amnesty International.

Dougald Hine is a social thinker, writer and speaker. After an early career as a BBC journalist, he co-founded organisations including the Dark Mountain Project and a school called HOME. He has collaborated with scientists, artists and activists, serving as a leader of artistic development at Riksteatern (Sweden’s national theatre) and as an associate of the Centre for Environment and Development Studies at Uppsala University. His latest book is At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics & All the Other Emergencies (2023). He co-hosts The Great Humbling podcast and publishes a Substack called Writing Home.

Dr Giles Waller is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Divinity where he works closely alongside Professor Esra Özyürek and other members of the Cambridge Interfaith Programme. He convenes the Inter-Religious Research seminar and oversees the Faculty’s outreach to prospective students. He will be supporting Scriptural Reasoning and project work during the Summer School. 

Dr Hanane Benadi is an anthropologist working at the intersection of ethics, politics, religion, and climate change in the MENA region. At the LSE, she is a Research Officer on the Global Religious Pluralities Project for the climate change and interfaith relations strand.

Previously, she was an IASH-Alwaleed Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. There, she explored the ways the intertwinement of humanitarianism and Islamic moral reasoning in Islamist activism on behalf of political prisoners in Egypt has transformed understandings of pain, suffering, and tribulation among young Islamists and the consequences of these transformations for future Islamist politics.

Hanane received her PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester in 2017.

Dr Hilary Marlow is a researcher and writer on religious belief and environmental ethics. She is Vice-Mistress, Postgraduate Tutor and Director of Studies at Girton College, Cambridge, and teaches Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the Faculty of Divinity. She has undergraduate degrees in Social Science (Manchester) and Biblical Studies (Kings College London). Her PhD from the University of Cambridge on Amos, Hosea and First Isaiah was published in 2009 as Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics. 

Latest publications include The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Ecology (OUP, 2022), co-edited with Dr Mark Harris (Edinburgh) and Eschatology in Antiquity: Forms and Functions (Routledge 2021), co-edited with Dr Helen Van Noorden (Cambridge) and Prof Karla Pollmann (Tübingen). In her spare time, Hilary enjoys tending a small field just outside Cambridge, where she grows her own fruit and vegetables and tries keep her ecological footprint as low as possible.

Hina Khalid is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Divinity. Her PhD offers a comparative exploration of the theology and poetry of Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941). She is particularly interested in the possibilities of comparative theology across Islamic and Indic traditions, and in the ways that shared devotional idioms have formed in and across the Indian subcontinent. 

Hina is supporting the administrative side of the Summer School arrangements, while finishing the required (minor) corrections to her PhD thesis. Hina is an experienced practitioner of Scriptural Reasoning and may join the visit to Cambridge Central Mosque on Day 4.

Dr Iona Hine is Programme Manager at the Cambridge Interfaith Programme and co-convenor of the Cambridge Interfaith Research Forum (with Professor Özyürek). She has oversight of Summer School arrangements at the Cambridge end, as part of a portfolio of knowledge exchange, partnership and research support activity. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, with a PhD from the University of Sheffield, a PGCE (Religious Education), and MA in Jewish–Christian Relations, alongside her undergraduate degree from Cambridge. This is her third Summer School with CIP.

James Murray White is a writer, filmmaker, and activist for the earth. His experience of travel, living in various deserts and mixed terrains, a Msc in Human Ecology, and his childhood growing up in a South Cambridgeshire village, has shaped his resolve to use all his skills in service: to water and its flows, to habitats and liminal woodland spaces, and our human ability to engage with the more than human.

Recent projects include ‘Waterlight’ a film exploring a poet's response to the River Mel (waterlightproject.org.uk), a documentary exploring the legacy of artist, poet, mystic William Blake (findingblake.org.uk), and co-creating the community interest company Water Sensitive Cambridge.

James has been lead researcher on the brand new documentary 6 Inches Of Soil (sixinchesofsoil.org), exploring soil health and regenerative agriculture practices in the UK, now  and he’s currently creating a film about a new community project to restore a chalk stream that flows through the town of Newmarket to full glorious health.

James will be available for an optional film viewing in the evening of day 3. He is also part of the Water Sensitive Cambridge team co-facilitating our River Cam fieldtrip.

James Walters is founding director of the LSE Faith Centre and LSE Religion and Global Society. Since opening in 2014, the centre has developed programmes to promote religious literacy, interfaith leadership and a better understanding of religion-related conflict among LSE’s diverse student body, in government and among wider global publics. Professor Walters is a Professor in Practice, affiliated to the Department for International Relations and an associate of the LSE Department of International Development.

Professor Walters studied theology at Cambridge University and writes on the interface of theology, philosophy, and political science. He has published five books including Loving Your Neighbour in an Age of Religious Conflict (Jessica Kingsley 2019), Religious Imaginations: How Narratives of Faith are Shaping Today’s World (ed. Gingko Library 2018) and a theological engagement with the work of the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard (Bloomsbury 2012). 

Professor Walters is a priest in the Church of England. He is an honorary canon of Chichester Cathedral in West Sussex, a member of the Academic Board of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Examination in Theology, and a member of the governing council of Westcott House Theological College.

Jess Hazrati is LSE Faith Centre & Religion and Global Society Manager; she is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Faith Centre and its people and programmes. Jess joined LSE in February 2023 after six years working at a UK based interfaith charity delivering community building projects and events celebrating faith communities in the UK.

Jess has a BA in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics and an MTh in Theology, both from Heythrop College, UoL, and is particularly interested in political theology and how faith engages with social justice. She enjoys hosting spaces where religious diversity can be explored and used to build positive relationships and effect change.

Jonathan is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Religion and Public Life, University of Leeds, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. His research explores how religious groups participate in social movements and respond to shared social challenges in complex and surprising ways.

Some examples are: 1) local environmental social movements in Indonesia, 2) interfaith solidarity movements in South Africa, 3) intermediaries in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan, 4) management of multi-faith spaces at UK universities, and 5) faith, belief and belonging in London. He worked for ten years in the UK charitable sector on interfaith and social action projects with the Lokahi Foundation and the Faith & Belief Forum.

Jonathan holds a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Leeds, and an MA degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, USA.

Joseph studied Theology at the University of Exeter, before moving on to MPhil study in Theology (World Christianities) and then a PhD in Theology both at the University of Cambridge. In 2024, he rejoined the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, having previously served as a Lecturer at Birmingham Newman University and a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.

Joseph’s primary research focus is Rastafari spirituality in the Caribbean and the UK. His PhD thesis explored Rastafari ecologies and ecotheologies through ethnographic fieldwork in St Lucia/Iyanola. This built on his MPhil research which explored contemporary dietary practices amongst Rastafari communities in Jamaica and the UK. He has produced numerous journal articles, conference papers and encyclopedia entries on Rastafari, spanning the elemental language of Rastafari influenced music to Rastafari encounters with Covid-19. He also retains an active interest in the interaction between faith and football.

Joseph’s innovative approach to teaching earned him recognition as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is a co-convenor of the Indigenous Studies Discussion Group at Cambridge and a member of the Cambridge Interfaith Research Forum.

Julian Allwood is Professor of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Cambridge. He was a Lead Author of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with a focus on mitigating industrial emissions. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP) and currently chairman of its metal forming section, a member of the UK’s Energy Research Partnership and is joint editor-in-chief of the Journal of Materials Processing Technology.

In partnership with Andrew Davison, Starbridge Professor of Theology and Natural Sciences, Julian has cowritten A Safe Climate, In Good Faith (forthcoming from Cambridge University Press). The book connects Christian aspirations to respond to climate change with a non-economic view of virtue in restraint.

Kristian Noll joined the LSE Faith Centre as the Global Religious Pluralities Project Officer in September 2023. He holds a BA in political science and Norwegian from St Olaf College (Minnesota, USA) and completed his MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation at the LSE in August 2023.

Prior to joining the LSE Faith Centre, Kristian worked in the German Bundestag as a participant in the International Parliamentary Stipend Program and as a parliamentary intern in the UK House of Commons. Kristian is interested in the intersection between faith and politics, particularly in relation to environmental and foreign policy.

Dr Lorna Gold is the Chief Executive of FaithInvest, having previously held the position of Director of Movement Building. She joined FaithInvest in 2020 and has more than two decades' experience of engaging faiths on environmental, climate and economic justice. She worked at a senior level in Trocaire, the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Lorna is a leading voice on faith-consistent investing in the Catholic Church and supported the Irish Bishops' Conference to divest from fossil fuels in 2018. She is Chair of the Laudato Si' Movement (formerly the Global Catholic Climate Movement) and a member of the Vatican's Covid Commission Economics Taskforce.  Her books include New Financial Horizons – The Emergence of an Economy of Communion (NCP, 2011) and Climate Generation – Awakening our Children's Future (NCP, 2018).

Professor Michael Pollitt is Professor of Business Economics in the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. His research interests include industrial economics, privatisation and regulation of utilities, energy economics, the measurement of productive efficiency, and the relationship between Christian ethics and best practice business behaviour. He has advised the UK Competition Commission, the New Zealand Commerce Commission, Ofgem, Ofwat, the DTI, the World Bank, and the European Commission.

Michael is Head of the Economics & Policy subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which analyses how economics can improve growth, business performance, and environmental outcomes. Since 2000 he has been convenor of the Association for Christian Economics (ACE), UK. In his most recent writing on the subject, Michael suggested that climate-change campaigners ought to avoid “apocalyptic” language in favour of positive messages of change.

Dr Mohammed R. Kroessin is a development economist with 20 years’ experience of working with Islamic development and financial institutions on strategies for sustainable development, climate finance and social impact. He has formerly worked for Chambers of Commerce and the Centre for Enterprise in the UK, was Asst. CEO of Muslim Aid and is now heading Islamic Relief’s Global Islamic Microfinance Unit where he leads a portfolio of 10 country financial inclusion programmes.

Mohammed holds a Masters in international political economy (Kent, UK) and a Masters in development management (Westminster Business School, UK). He has completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham (UK) in Islamic development finance. He was a Research Associate at the University of Birmingham, a Visiting Research Fellow at Aston Business School and is currently a lecturer (guest faculty) in Islamic Microfinance at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany.

Mohammed has worked with Islamic development finance institutions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, sits on the board of two microfinance institutions in the Balkans, is a director of the UK Financial Inclusion Forum and the founder of GEMicro, an Islamic social finance advisory firm.
 

Natasha Chawla is a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford in the Faculty of Theology and Religion. Her work is situated at the intersection of the study of religion and environmental philosophy. Natasha is currently working on constructing an ecophilosophy based on the works of the Indian polymath Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), exploring the perceptions of humans, nature, and modernity in the early 20th century and integrating these ideas with contemporary strains of deep ecology and ecotheology. Her research interests include Religions and the Environment, Environmental Philosophy, Indian Philosophy, Advaita Vedanta, Yoga, Interfaith, and Peace Building.

Timothy J. Winter is Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Divinity and the current Chair of the CIP Management Committee. He has been connected with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme since its inception, having first come to Cambridge to read Arabic at Pembroke College.

He is also the Founder and Dean of Cambridge Muslim College, and Chair of the Trustees of Cambridge Central Mosque. His academic expertise embraces Sufism, the development of the Ottoman learned institution, and Muslim–Christian relations.

The Summer School itinerary includes a tour of Cambridge Central Mosque, Europe’s first purpose-built eco mosque, in his company.

Dr Tobias Müller is an Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) and Postdoctoral Fellow at The New Institute, Hamburg. Previously, he held research and teaching positions at Yale University, Leiden University, LMU Munich, the Woolf Institute, Queens’ College, Cambridge, and the University of Cambridge, where he received his PhD in 2020. His research interests include political and social theory, the politics of climate change, secularism and Islam in Europe and decolonial and feminist theory.

Water Sensitive Cambridge CIC was founded in 2023 by local residents who care deeply about water.

It is a Community Interest Company, working toward a better relationship with water in Cambridge UK. That work takes many forms, from community engagement, education, and attending many meetings with stakeholders to physical interventions such as building rain gardens. They explain:

“Many local people recognise that there is something seriously wrong with how we manage water in Cambridge, and rather than stand criticising on the sidelines we decided to do something about it. We engage with local decision-makers to do projects and influence policy. We hope to inspire others to do the same.

“Talking with specific influential stakeholders may attract criticism, particularly from others in the community who also care deeply about water and water issues. Having civil conversations does not imply agreement. If we are to affect change, we need to engage with people and organisations with different views than us, and support the creation of spaces where those conversations can happen.

“We initiate projects using nature-based solutions to positively impact the water cycle in Cambridge, to mitigate flooding, and reduce pollution to the water courses that we all love. One such solution is putting rain into the ground close to where it falls.”