religious studies

Peach Hoyle has been awarded the Woolf Institute Cambridge Scholarship to commence their PhD studies in 2022 in the Faculty of Divinity under the supervision of Professor Esra Özyürek and Dr Daniel Weiss. 

My PhD research will look at the hotly-contested topic of the Islamic lunar calendar.

As it stands, there is no consensus amongst the UK's Muslims about how the Islamic calendar should be properly constructed. This has led to fiery debates across generations, with incidents including Imams being sacked, physical fights in mosques, and frequent cases of family members refusing to celebrate religious festivals together on the same date. 

Ayesha Ulhaq is a first-year PhD student, studying the emotional geographies of British Muslim women's safety at home, in public and in third spaces. Her research will focus on Muslim communities in Britain and seeks to explore the relationship between gender, space, emotion, and religion in the everyday lives of Muslim women. Ayesha's research attempts to strengthen the relationship between communities, the public, and academia by involving communities in crucial phases of the research process through participatory approaches and innovative methodology.

Tilak Parekh is a PhD student in the Faculty of Divinity. His doctoral thesis focuses on the purpose, creation and impact of the Neasden Temple in northwest London—the first traditional Hindu temple built in the western world. Tilak’s research interests span sacred space, religious leadership, youth religiosity, and digital religion.

Hope Crelin is a PhD Candidate and a full-ride merit Cambridge International & King’s College Scholar. She is an historical and constructive theologian whose current work engages the narrative and affective contours of John Calvin’s theology of hope.