A variety of cutting-edge research projects are currently being conducted by researchers affiliated with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme and the Faculty of Divinity.
CIP Religion and Global Challenges Initiative
The CIP Religion and Global Challenges Initiative seeks to generate tangible and sustainable solutions to worldwide problems by deepening understanding of the role that religious communities play – and could play – in exacerbating or in alleviating such problems. It will bring together theologians, social and natural scientists and religious communities to think through the most pressing global challenges facing us today.
Scripture & Violence
The Scripture & Violence Project is a research and impact project focused on illuminating the complex relationship between scriptural texts and real-world acts of violence, challenging assumptions that are commonly held in the public sphere.
Holocaust Memory and Muslims in Germany
This is the first ever major study to analyse and propose ways of improving Holocaust education programs designed for Muslims.
God and Human Speech
Theologians and empirical scientists collaborate in the area of psychology and language. Dr Daniel Weiss is Co-Investigator on this Templeton Foundation-funded grant, led by Dr Joanna Leidenhag at the University of Leeds.
Religion as a conflict driver in Ethiopia
Funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Dr Jörg Haustein leads this project exploring interactions between religion, ethnicity and other parameters at five sites in Ethiopia.
Trans Cosmologies
An emerging research strand within the framework of CIP’s Religion and Global Challenges Initiative, Trans Cosmologies brings together anthropologists, theologians, artists and activists to consider the role of religion in trans lifeworlds. It builds on the core CIP concerns with religious relations, encounters and multivocality, inherently critical of hegemonic political structuring.
Shared Sacred
The Shared Sacred project focuses on the spatial and temporal modes of proximity between persons and communities of ‘different’ faith. It will be inaugurated in 2021 through four main activities: a) an experimental panel on inter-faith photography for wide audiences; b) an exhibition of anthropological photography; c) an academic symposium, and d) a drawing competition for Cambridgeshire's schoolchildren.
TRACTS: Traces as Research Agenda for Climate Change, Technology Studies, and Social Justice
Funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (£500,000), this four-year project brings together scholars from disciplines of the social sciences and humanities with artists, decolonial activists, memorialization experts and legal professionals to bridge current cultural, political and geographical gaps in research on traces.
Turkish-Armenian Relations
Together with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Cambridge Interfaith Programme is hosting a scheme with postdoctoral researchers focused on relations between Turkey and Armenia, including historical and contemporary perspectives. Throughout 2021-2023, these scholars are carrying out fresh research, and developing skills to share their learning in the media and with policy-makers.
RedGold & Bosnian Muslim Saints
Dr Safet HadžiMuhamedović is part of the Research Team on a four-year project titled A Red Golden Legend: Muslim Hagiographic Experiences in the Former USSR and Popular Democracies, supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR), and led by Professor Stéphane A. Dudoignon (CNRS/GSRL) and Professor Marie-Paule Hille (EHESS/CCJ). The project is concerned with sainthood in action in societies characterised by both communist pasts and religious pluralism, with special interest in Islam. Read more about it here. Dr HadžiMuhamedović's personal project under the working title 'Tracing Dobri: Bosnian Muslim Saints in Political Turmoil'.
Making British Islam Across Generations
How do different generations of Muslims understand what it means to be a Muslim in the UK? This is a collaboration between University of Cambridge Divinity Faculty and the Everyday Muslim Heritage and Archive Initiative.
Bosnian Sacred Landscapes
This is a long-term investigation of sacred landscapes shared by different Bosnian communities of faith after the 1990s conflict, with special focus on the Dinaric highlands.
Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Racism
This project explores the complicated relationships between antisemitism, islamophobia, and other kinds of racism and discrimination.
Conversion from Islam to Christianity
This project explores the dynamics and symbolism of Muslim conversions to Christianity in Turkey and in Europe.
Islam and Secularism in Turkey
This project explores how Islamic, secular, and nationalist worldviews compete with each other in the political sphere.
Scriptural Reasoning in the University
Scriptural Reasoning in the University is an academic collaboration between scholars of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, who use the practice of Scriptural Reasoning as a springboard to knowledge exchange and critical reflection.