Shaping the world: research excellence in Religious Studies

Religious Studies at Kent has an outstanding profile in the study of contemporary religion, values and beliefs and a strong commitment to socially-relevant research. The Department is delighted that 100% of its research impact, and 90% of its research environment has been graded world-leading in the most recent Research Excellence Framework. This excellent result ranks Religious Studies at Kent 5th in the UK, according to the Times Higher Education.

More than 70% of the Department’s research outputs were judged to be ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

Research in Religious Studies has been at the forefront of attempts to understand contemporary forms of belief, values and meanings beyond traditional institutional religion. The Department has helped to shape public understanding of religion and atheism around the world, with media audiences for research in the Department in recent years exceeding 50 million people. Important projects have included:

  • A landmark research programme, led by Dr Lois Lee, into atheism, agnosticism and other forms of so-called unbelief around world.
  • Projects on religion and institutional abuse led by Professor Gordon Lynch, who has served as an expert witness for both the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, co-curated a major exhibition with the V&A Museum of Childhood, collaborated on the national music project The Ballads of Child Migration, and co-produced educational films with the BAFTA award-winning digital channel TrueTube.
  • The creation of a new Centre for Anglican History and Theology by Professor Jeremy Carrette, in partnership with the University’s School of History, draws on Canterbury’s place as a global centre for Anglicanism.

Academic staff have a strong commitment to engaging with key social issues and in recent years, research in the Department has engaged with religious NGOs in the United Nations, shaped the teaching of religious education in schools, influenced government policy on redress for British child migrants and led to new films and other digital outputs, including a podcast on nostalgia.

Head of the Department of Religious Studies, Dr Chris Deacy, said ‘Religious Studies at Kent has always prized itself on the real-world impact of our research and so we are absolutely are delighted that 100% of our impact case studies have been assessed as ‘world-leading’ by expert panellists. It is clear that our research has a global reach, and has impacted the lives of hundreds of people around the world.’

Leave a Reply