Religion and Society
Visiting Scholars
2018 Visiting Scholars
Professor Gabriele Cappai
Gabriele Cappai studied sociology, philosophy and psychology at the University of Erlangen where he obtained his Phd degree. Since 2007 he has been Professor of "Theory and Methods of Empirical Research" (with a special emphasis on qualitative methods) of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). His interests also touch on theory of culture, with a special focus on the topics of intercultural comparison and cultural determinism. Over the past few years his work converged on the theory of action and its relevance for empirical research.
Professor James Cox
James L Cox is Emeritus Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies in the University of Edinburgh and Adjunct Professor in the Religion and Society Research Cluster, Western Sydney University. In 1999, he was appointed Reader in Religious Studies in the University of Edinburgh and was awarded a Personal Chair in 2006. From 1993 to 1998, he directed the University of Edinburgh’s African Christianity Project which included eight African universities in southern and western Africa. He has held prior academic posts at the University of Zimbabwe, Westminster College, Oxford and Alaska Pacific University. In 2009, he was Visiting Professor of Religion in the University of Sydney and was the de Carle Distinguished Lecturer for 2012 in the University of Otago. His latest monographs include: The Invention of God in Indigenous Societies (Routledge, 2014), An Introduction to the Phenomenology of Religion (Continuum, 2010), From Primitive to Indigenous: The Academic Study of Indigenous Religions (Ashgate, 2007) and A Guide to the Phenomenology of Religion (Continuum, 2006). He has recently co-edited a book with Adam Possamai of Western Sydney University entitled Religion and Non-Religion among Australian Aboriginal Peoples (Routledge, 2016).
2017 Visiting Scholars
Professor Paul Freston
Paul Freston is the CIGI Chair in Religion and Politics in Global Context at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and with the Religion and Culture Department at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is also a distinguished senior fellow and director of the Program for Studies of Religion in Latin America, Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR), Baylor University, and professor in the Post-Graduate Programme in Sociology, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil. He has published extensively on three areas: religion and politics in comparative perspective; religion, globalization and transnationalism; and transformations in the religious field of Latin America and especially Brazil.
2016 Visiting Scholars
Professor James Cox
James L Cox is Emeritus Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies in the University of Edinburgh and Adjunct Professor in the Religion and Society Research Cluster, Western Sydney University. In 1999, he was appointed Reader in Religious Studies in the University of Edinburgh and was awarded a Personal Chair in 2006. From 1993 to 1998, he directed the University of Edinburgh’s African Christianity Project which included eight African universities in southern and western Africa. He has held prior academic posts at the University of Zimbabwe, Westminster College, Oxford and Alaska Pacific University. In 2009, he was Visiting Professor of Religion in the University of Sydney and was the de Carle Distinguished Lecturer for 2012 in the University of Otago. His latest monographs include: The Invention of God in Indigenous Societies (Routledge, 2014), An Introduction to the Phenomenology of Religion (Continuum, 2010), From Primitive to Indigenous: The Academic Study of Indigenous Religions (Ashgate, 2007) and A Guide to the Phenomenology of Religion (Continuum, 2006). He has recently co-edited a book with Adam Possamai of Western Sydney University entitled Religion and Non-Religion among Australian Aboriginal Peoples (Routledge, 2016).
Previous Visitors to the Centre
Amir Sheikhzadegan (2015)
Amir Sheikhzadegan is a senior postdoc lecturer and researcher at the Department of Social Sciences (Section of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work) of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of "Der Griff des politischen Islam zur Macht: Iran und Algerien im Vergleich" (2003) as well as the co-editor of "Gesellschaften zwischen Multi- und Transkulturalität" (forthcoming). Sheikhzadegan has been a visiting fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin as well as a lecturer at the universities of Zurich, Lucerne, and Basel. His fields of interest include societal change in Iran, Islam and modernity, civil society, and narrative identity. He is currently carrying out Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) research on narrative identities of Muslims active in voluntary associations in Switzerland.
Al Makin (opens in a new window) (2014)
Al Makin obtained his PhD in Philosophy/Islamic Studies from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, his MA in Islamic Studies from McGill University, Montreal and BA in Islamic Studies from the State Islamic University, Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta. He is currently a Lecturer at the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta. His dissertation, Representing the Enemy: Musaylima in Muslim Literature (Peter Lang, 2010), explores aspects of classical Islamic literature, particularly the early concept of prophethood. Dr Makin is also interested in contemporary public intellectual debates surrounding aspects of Islam within the Indonesian context.
During Dr Makin's Fellowship with the Asia Research Institute (2011-2012), he examined current claimants to prophethood in Indonesia. Specifically, he was interested in the ways in which the public has responded to these claimants – a battle in the public sphere which can be portrayed as "the battle" between those who support "orthodoxy" and those who support "plurality". As an Endeavour Fellow with the Religion and Society Research Cluster (June-December 2014), Al will be completing a monograph based on this research.
Dr Makin is the Editor in Chief of Al Jam'iah, an international journal of Islamic studies, State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta (indexed by Scopus, Pro-quest and Ebscho).
Nina Nurmila(opens in a new window) (2013)
Nina Nurmila is a Senior Lecturer at the State Islamic University (UIN) Bandung, Indonesia where she teaches Gender in Islamic Studies at the postgraduate level. Her first degree was from UIN Bandung (1992), her MA from Murdoch University (1997) and her PhD from the University of Melbourne (2007). She was an Endeavour Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney (2008) and a Fulbright Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Redlands, California, USA (2008-9). Nina is the author of Women, Islam and Everyday Life: Renegotiating Polygamy in Indonesia (London; New York: Routledge, 2009 & 2011). She is currently a MORA Visiting Fellow at the Religion and Society Research Cluster.
Email: ninanurmila@yahoo.com
Dr Nur Hidayah (2013)
Nur Hidayah has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Islamic Law and Economics of Banten State Institute for Islamic Studies, Indonesia since 2001. She finished her BA in Islamic Law from Jakarta State Islamic University in 1998 and B.Ec from the Open University in 1999. She obtained a Ministry Of Religious Affairs(Republic of Indonesia) scholarship and a British Chevening Award to pursue her Master's degree at UIN Jakarta.
After graduating with an MA in Islamic Law program from UIN in 2002 and an MA in Islamic Political Economy from the University of Durham in 2003, she worked as a researcher and program officer at ICIP (International Centre for Islam and Pluralism) until 2005. In early 2013, she completed her PhD from Melbourne University funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Religion and Society Research Cluster.
Email: nur.hdh@gmail.com
Professor James T Richardson (opens in a new window) (2010 - 2012)
The Centre welcomed Professor James Richardson for three consecutive years in 2010, 2011 and 2012. James is Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies and Director, Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is recognised as a leading expert in the sociology of law and the sociology of religion.
In 2010 James was invited to deliver a public lecture and the opening address at the one-day Shari'a and Legal Pluralism Conference. In 2011 and 2012, James collaborated with staff from the Centre and Professor David Tait from the Justice Research Group to develop a project aimed at examining the experience of Muslims in Australian and US courts.
