Silencing Theological Debate

Teaching theology and religion in a university context  is all about exploration, empathy and raising questions about the role of faith in the 21st century….This article from an anonymous lecturer in a UK University raises worrying questions about free thinking, education and theology. The original article was in The Guardian newspaper on 8th February 2014….

‘I’m a senior academic in a religion department at a Russell Group university. Before you ask, no, we’re not training would-be vicars. And no, we’re not in the business of promoting particular faiths. In fact, I’m an atheist (always have been), and my motivating “belief” as an academic is that the secular study of religions is a crucial activity in any university……’

Find out more….‘Teaching Religion – My Students Are Trying To Run My Course’

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Academics Stand Against Poverty

More than a billion people exist on less than US$2.00 a day. My own society, the UK, is more unequal than at any time since World War II. We live in an ‘age of austerity’ but some feel the pinch more than others. In my own work I strive to explore and embody a 21st century interpretation of the divine bias to the oppressed articulated by Gustavo Gutierrez in his seminal book A Theology of Liberation and the foundation of liberation theology. And yet life within the academy in the UK is dominated by an obsession with big money research grants and so-called ‘world class’ publications with certain ‘elite’ publishers. Where is the philosophy of Paulo Freire when we need it – education is the process of awakening to oppression and agitating for liberation?

One recently formed organisation within the academy that seeks to buck the trend is ‘Academics Stand Against Poverty’ – Check them out – research with real impact and for real purpose….