Biography
My research is primarily focused on Rastafari theology, Livity and ecotheology. In this, my PhD thesis explores Rastafari ecotheology, environmental worldviews and responses to climate change in St Lucia (Iyanola) and the UK. This takes the form of an ethnographic research piece with interview and participant observaion based field work conduted in St Lucia at the end of 2020 through to 2021, research kindly funded through grant by the Faculty of Divinity here at Cambridge and Sidney Sussex College.
This work builds on my MPhil research which explored Rastafari dietary practices in Jamaica and the UK through ethnographic fieldwork, with an abridged version of my thesis recently having been published in the Black Theology journal.
I also have interests in exegesis and the interaction between faith and sport.
Publications
Books
- Ancient Bongo Watto. Ras Flako, Jake Homiak (eds. Joseph Powell) (Wisemind Publications: Montego Bay, Jamaica: 2021)
Journal Articles
- ‘A Community Ten Miles Away’ – Iyanolan (St Lucian) Visions for Rastafari Community Living - Nova Religio (2022)
- Ketch Vampire – ‘The Vampire Trope in Rastafari Inspired Music’ - Noesis Vol VIII (2021)
- ‘Dis Plandemic Iwah’ - Rastafari Responses to Covid-19 and Covid-19 Management Strategies in Iyanola (St Lucia) - Forthcoming
- Ital Hermenuetics: The Innovative Theological Grounding Of Rastafari Dietary (Ietary) Practices - Black Theology Vol 19 Iss 1 (Mar 2021) 32-52 https://doi.org/10.1080/14769948.2021.1897097
- Rastafari of Jamaica. Database of Religious History, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia. Retrieved August 03, 2020, from https://religiondatabase.org/browse/898/
- Paul the Apostle’s Attitudes Towards Women – The Undergraduate Vol 2 No 1 (2015) 38-43
Conference Presentations
- Re-interpreting Knowledge Symposium: Rastafari and the Academy – Freedom in the City of Bath Festival 08.10.21 –
- Society for the Study of Theology ‘Reconciliation’, Newnham College, Cambridge: ‘The Castries Cathedral Attack 20 Years on’ 13.09.21
- International Association for the History of Religions, New Zealand ‘Rasta Nuh Quiet: The Status of Rastafari Scholarship in U.K Theology Departments 07.08.20’
Teaching and Supervisions
Course Convener, Tutor: St Albans Cathedral, Certificate in Theology - Food, Fast and Faith: Christian Eating Practices and Eco-Theology in Conversation with World Religions
Supervisor, Introduction to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism - Paper A7: Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, 2020 - Present
Other Professional Activities
Editor, Noesis Review - Cambridge Faculty of Divinity Postgraduate Journal: 2020 - Present
Peer Reviewer, eSharp - University of Glasgow Postgraduate Arts, Social Science and Education Journal: 2020 - Present
