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. 

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.