Senior Lecturer in the History of China
Centre of World Christianity
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About the centre
About the centre
As a modern Western university, the long shadow of colonialism stretches into all of SOAS’s academic specialisations and can at times be difficult to negotiate in the contemporary world. The Centre of World Christianity is no exception.
Christianity originated in the Middle East and this was the first region where it blossomed, radiating over time not only in Europe, as historically recognised, but also in parts of Asia and Africa. Around forty percent of all Christians nowadays live in the Asian and African region. These regions constitute the core areas of the SOAS Centre of World Christianity.
As Centre members, we are committed to promoting knowledge of Christian traditions worldwide in ways that capture the diversity of Christian exegetical traditions and worldviews through the lived experiences of faith communities, indigenous scholars and theology experts. We are keen to present historical as well as contemporary flashlights into the whole panoply of Christian traditions.
Aims
The SOAS Centre of Christianity aims to:
- raise awareness about and overcome colonial legacies in the studies of Christianity worldwide and improve understanding of non-Western Christian traditions in the world;
- foster a better link between the academic study of Christian traditions and Christian communities’ lived experiences in their historical and cultural context;
- engage with topical issues and inform real-time analysis, such as the role of religious discourse in conflict, war crimes against faith communities, and the problem of anti-Christian persecution where Christians are minorities.
Activities
We pursue these aims through a lunchtime seminar series that hosts presentations from scholars across the world. We also hold webinars and organise roundtable discussion events on urgent matters to provide a better contextualisation of complex religious matters, and promote public education and cross-cultural understanding.
Our lectures and webinars have been made available as video recordings on our dedicated Youtube channel.
