News

From September 2024 through May 2025, CIP postdoc Dr Anastasia Badder spent a day-a-week working with the Faith & Belief Forum, a national NGO. The goal was to identify synergies, test scope for research collaborations, and (when possible) observe current interfaith practice “in the wild”.  A year on and at the dawn of a new collaborative project, …

We are pleased to share the official announcement for a new collaborative project that spans the research–practice divide:Thanks to National Lottery players, the Believe in Climate Action project (BELIEVE) has received £1,452,709.20 over 4.5 years from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. Led by the Faith & B…

The Faculty of Divinity invites expressions of interest from recently completed or final stage doctoral students whom the Faculty might support in next year’s (2026–27) round of applications for British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships (3 years), the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (3 years), Marie-Curie Fellowships (2 years) and British Academy…

In an article published this month in Democratic Theory, Dr Tobias Müller challenges a familiar assumption in public debate: that the state can act as a neutral arbiter when dealing with religion in democratic life.Political theorist Müller argues that decisions affecting faith communities are rarely guided by a single, coherent logic. Instead, the…

“Hungarians are openly speaking of ‘regime change’: the complete transformation of their society. The historic election results show that regime change has finally begun. But regime change is not a moment, it is a process, and it will take time to deliver it.”Dr Marietta van der Tol is one of four researchers invited to reflect on the significance …

BBC reporter Nora Fakim has been learning about UK celebrations of Mimouna, a uniquely Moroccan Jewish celebration marking the end of Passover. Her report includes a short interview with Dr Vanessa Paloma Elbaz—here is a brief taster:Dr Vanessa Paloma Elbaz, a lecturer of oral Moroccan history at Cambridge University whose family is originally from…

A multi-year research project on God, language, and diversity is beginning to report back. Journalist Annelise Jolley interviewed researchers including Napoleon Katsos & Daniel Weiss (Cambridge) and project lead Joanna Leidenhag (Leeds) in an article published by the Templeton Foundation.Here are a few tasters from Jolley’s engaging essay: Leidenha…

On 18 March 2026, the Faculty of Divinity hosted One Earth, Many Verses, an interfaith panel dialogue organised by Research Forum members Riya Kartha (Faculty of Education) and Geneva Blackmer (Faculty of Divinity). Chaired by CIP’s Academic Director, Professor Esra Özyürek, the panel brought together Professor Jason Goulah (DePaul University), pos…

Who was Pips to you? That was the opening question as Prof Esra Özyürek and Dr Georgette Bennett discussed Half-Jew–Full Life, a compelling new biography of Gary “Pips” Phillips. Bennett read a passage relaying Pips’ first-hand experience of (what became known as) Kristallnacht, before explaining that Pips had been her third-cousin-in-law and (foll…

Announcing the 2026 Student Symposium & an Online ColloquiumSince 2023, CIP has hosted an annual symposium, designed by and for Cambridge students to discuss religion-related thought and research at any level and across different disciplines. For 2026, the convenors are Geneva Blackmer (Divinity), Hannah Peterson (Sociology) and Songzan Xu (Divinit…

An Entangled Otherings workshop, 18 & 19 June 2026, CambridgeOver the last four years, Entangled Otherings workshops have explored the relations between antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism (eg 2024, 2025). During this time, these relations have become more complex in public discourse, in policy, and in the rise of violent attacks on minorities, m…

A new exhibition is opening at Manchester Jewish Museum this month, exploring the legacy of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, aka Maimonides. Maimonides from Scratch began as an interdisciplinary effort to explore Jewish and Muslim presence and place in Manchester and Marseille through creative practices. The team come from backgrounds in art, anthropology, …

Alongside original research and collaborative working, the Cambridge Interfaith Programme also provides enrichment opportunities for Cambridge students. The January schedule has included a couple of notable examples, with more getting underway:From emergencies to investmentThe CIP Skills series began in 2024. On 21 January 2026, we ran an intensive…

We are pleased to be working with the Institute of Astronomy (Cambridge) and the University of Leeds to deliver an innovative training programme for Muslims seeking a better understanding of the history, theory and practice of moonsighting. Last week, 38 recruits travelled to the University of Leeds for two days’ immersive training, inspired by Cam…

From AI and climate action to religious education and teacher training, we’ve new research to share, courtesy of Cambridge Interfaith Research Forum.Read on for summaries of new articles on diverging accounts of time in the climate movement, the importance of eclecticism in religious education, the perils and promise of reflexive writing, and (see …