Current Research Programmes and Projects
Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology
Funded by Lux Mundi Inc. (USA), the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology was established in 2025, with Prof. David Fergusson and Dr. Ximian Simeon Xu as its founding Co-Directors. It seeks to facilitate global and cross-cultural dialogue on Chinese theologies and serve as an interface between Western and East Asian theological institutions and scholars. The Centre has the following threefold aim:
(1) Extend the research scope of academic theology in the UK
(2) Catalyse exchange and collaboration between Western and Chinese theologians and religious thinkers worldwide
(3) Create and foster academic links between leading universities, divinity schools and scholars in Europe, North America, East Asia, and South Asia, by advancing the study of Chinese theologies
Contact us: Prof. David Fergusson daf52@cam.ac.uk; Dr. Simeon Xu sx279@cam.ac.uk
Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism
The Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism (CCSP) is a major research centre for the interdisciplinary study of Platonism. The centre functions as a community of researchers concerned with the legacy of Platonism, and brings some of the great scholars of Platonism to Cambridge to lecture on their work. The Centre actively encourages graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working on the Platonic tradition in any period.
Cambridge Interfaith Programme (CIP)
Founded in 2002, the Cambridge Interfaith Programme aims to:
- foster interdisciplinary research of historical and contemporary relations between Christian, Jewish and Muslim (and wider) communities and their traditions;
- examine the role these religions have had and continue to have in society;
- pursue public education projects and cultivate critical conversation between people of different faiths;
- embed inter-faith learning and collaboration into the University of Cambridge and other institutions;
- work respectfully with educational and religious communities, maintaining sensitivity to their ethical principles and diversity of perspectives;
- emphasise face-to-face discussion and cooperative research, including the study of each other’s scriptures.
Systematicity and Method in Islamic Philosophical Theology (‘Ilm al-Kalām)
Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements
Founded in 2015 through the support of the Panacea Charitable Trust, the Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (CenSAMM) is a research centre dedicated to advancing the scholarly and public understanding of apocalyptic and millenarian movements across time, place, and culture. It brings together researchers from a range of disciplines and areas of expertise to foster the critical analysis of these world-shaping phenomena.
Past Research Projects
The faculty is host to a diverse portfolio of research projects in theology, religious studies, philosophy of religion and ethics, and related subjects. Below is a list of past research projects:
- Artefacts of Ancient Judaism
- Greek Bible in Byzantine Judaism
- Mapping the Jewish Communities of the Byzantine Empire
- Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database Project
- Religion and the Idea of a Research University
- The Book and the Sword: The Bible in the Experience and Legacy of the Great War