Institution: The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education
Position: Cohort 1 Fellow
I am a Research Fellow at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. I have a PhD in Theology and for most of my academic career have worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing (ITSEE) at the University of Birmingham, working on various ancient Greek manuscripts of the Bible.
In recent years, my research interests have returned to the subject of Christian mysticism, the roots of which formed the subject of my PhD. My main research interest at present is the ambivalence within Christianity about the human body, particularly within Christian mystical theology. Employing the psychological framework of embodied cognition, I am exploring the relationship between mystical experience and the experience of the body in first-hand accounts of religious and spiritual experiences in the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre archive.
I am also a self-employed teacher of the Alexander Technique, a body/mind discipline that encourages a contemplative or mindful attitude to everyday living. I live in Worcester, UK, with my husband and have two adult children and a granddaughter.
Join our innovative exploration at the nexus of psychology and theology. Our project aims to enrich theological research with the latest psychological insights, offering a unique opportunity for scholars to deepen their understanding of human nature and ethics.