Elaine Graham is Grosvenor Research Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Chester, a position she has held since 2009. She is the author of several major books, including Transforming Practice (1996), Representations of the Post-Human (2002) and Words Made Flesh (2009); with Heather Walton and Frances Ward, Theological Reflection: Methods (2nd Edition, 2019); with Zoe Bennett, Stephen Pattison and Heather Walton, Invitation to Practical Theology Research (Routledge, 2018). Her most recent work considers public theology as a form of Christian apologetics: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Public Theology in a Post-Secular Age (2013) and Apologetics without Apology: speaking of God in a world troubled by religion (Cascade, 2017).
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Email
e.graham@chester.ac.uk -
Telephone
01244 511465 -
Twitter
@ElaineGraham2
About Prof Elaine Graham
As a practical theologian, I am interested in the relationship between beliefs and actions, and whether religious commitment really makes a difference in today’s world. In my teaching and research, I try to encourage people to connect the values of faith to a critical engagement with the dilemmas of everyday life.
My first degree was in social science, but my interest in theology (and especially its practical relevance) really sprang from my membership of the Student Christian Movement. My master’s dissertation explored how perceptions of the pastoral needs of women during the twentieth century tended to stereotype them as wives and mothers. For my PhD, I studied the impact of gender theory on the discipline of pastoral studies within the Western Christian tradition.
From there, via an interest in religion and the body, I started to think about the ways in which popular culture and scientific discourses provide the Western cultural imagination with all sorts of depictions of what it means to be human in a digital, biotechnological and cybernetic age. That interest continues in my work on media, culture and religion.
I have also contributed to the field of practical theology through my work with Heather Walton and Frances Ward on theological reflection. This work continues to be a central part of my research, writing and supervision and I am currently collaborating with Heather, and Stephen Pattison and Zoe Bennett, on a jointly-authored work on advanced research methods in Practical Theology, to be published by Ashgate in 2017.
I’m also interested in the political and public dimensions of religion at a time when faith and spirituality is both more prominent and more contested. Whilst many of the assumptions about the eventual disappearance of religion from our lives have had to be re-assessed, there is still widespread scepticism as to the legitimacy of religious voices in public life. I’ve used the concept of the ‘post-secular’ to explore this question, and in 2013 published Between a Rock and a Hard Place (SCM Press).
I continue to think about how the Church can better communicate its contribution to society in a world both fascinated and troubled by religion. My solution? To rethink public theology as a form of Christian apologetics. I’m currently working on a monograph on this topic, to be published by Wipf and Stock in 2017.
In addition to my University commitments, I currently hold the honorary post of Canon Theologian at Chester Cathedral. Amongst other things, this involves me in helping to organize meetings of the Chester Theological Society and giving an annual lecture.
Teaching
Postgraduate
- Introduction to the Study of Theology, Media and Communication
- Independent Practice-Based Research Project
- Writing for Publication
- Media Ethics
- Reflective Practice
- Advanced Research in Practical Theology
Research
Research Interests
- Theology and Practice
- Religion and public life, especially ‘post-secular’ public theology
- Religion, culture and gender
- Technology and the ‘posthuman’ condition
- Media, culture and religion
PhD and DProf Supervision
I welcome enquiries for research at doctoral level in any of my research areas listed above, especially for students interested in pursuing research towards the degree of DProf; and from students wishing to explore other areas within Contextual, Practical and Public Theologies
External Funding
January-July 2009: Faith, Secularism and Public Policy seminar series, Economic and Social Research Council (£14,000).
Oct 2007-July 2009: Promoting Greater Human Wellbeing: Interacting the Happiness Hypothesis and Religion Collaborative Research Network, AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme (£23,400).
2007-2010: Collaborative Doctoral Studentship (jointly with British Sign Language Biblical Translation Project), Arts & Humanities Research Council (£36, 000).
2004-05: Communities in Transition, project on faith-based organizations’ responses to local economic and demographic change, Church Urban Fund (£20,000).
Elsewhere on the Web:
Links to many of my publications since 2009 can be found on my page in the University of Chester Repository.
My page as Canon Theologian of Chester Cathedral
Published Work
Publications:
Monographs and jointly-authored works
- Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Public Theology in a Post-Secular Age. London: SCM Press, September 2013.
- with Stephen R. Lowe, What Makes a Good City? Public Theology and the Urban Church. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2009.
- with Heather Walton and Frances Ward, Theological Reflection: Methods, London: SCM Press, 2005.
- Representations of the Post/Human: Monsters, Aliens and Others in Popular Culture. Studies in Religion, Culture and Gender, Manchester University Press and Rutgers University Press, 2002.
- Transforming Practice: Pastoral Theology in an Age of Uncertainty. London: Mowbray, 1996; reprinted 2002.
- Making the Difference: Gender, Personhood and Theology. London: Mowbray and Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995.
Edited books
- (with J.R. Atherton and I. Steedman), The Practices of Happiness: Political Economy, Religion and Wellbeing. Routledge, 2010.
- (ed.) Grace Jantzen: Redeeming the Present. London: Ashgate, 2009.
- (with P.M. Scott and C.R. Baker) Remoralizing Britain? Political, Ethical and Theological perspectives on New Labour. London and New York: Continuum, 2009.
- (with H. Walton and F. Ward) Theological Reflection: Sources. London: SCM Press, 2007.
- (with Margaret Halsey) Life-Cycles: Women and Pastoral Care. London: SPCK, 1993.
Other Selected Publications since 2009
In edited collections:
- The Final Frontier? Religion and Posthumanism in Film and TV. In M. Hauskeller, T.D. Philbeck and C. Carbonell, eds. Palgrave Macmillan Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and TV (361-370), London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
- Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Public Theology in the United Kingdom. in H. Bedford-Strohm, F. Höhne and T. Reitmeier, eds. Contextuality and Intercontextuality in Public Theology (121-135), Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2013.
- Religious Literacy and Public Service Broadcasting: Introducing a Research Agenda. in ed. G. Lynch and J. Mitchell, Religion, Media and Culture: a Reader (228-235), London: Routledge, 2011.
- Feminist Theory. in ed. B.M. Miller-McLemore, Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology (204-213), Oxford and New York: Blackwell, 2011.
- Theology, Place and Human Flourishing. in ed. M. Higton, Theology and Human Flourishing: Essays in Honour of Timothy Gorringe (265-279), Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2011.
- Establishment, Multiculturalism and Social Cohesion, in eds. M. Chapman, J. Maltby and W. Whyte, The Established Church: Past, Present and Future (124-140), Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2011.
- (with Andrew Davey), Inhabiting the Good City: the Politics of Hate and the Urbanisms of Hope, in eds. C. Baker and J. Beaumont, Post-Secular Cities (120-134), London: Continuum, 2011.
- The Virtuous Circle: religion and the practices of happiness in eds. J.R. Atherton, E.L. Graham and I. Steedman, The Practices of Happiness: Political Economy, Religion and Wellbeing (224-234), London: Routledge, 2010.
Journal articles:
- The Medium and the Message? Notes on Pope Francis’ “Theology of Communication”. Crucible: the Journal of Christian Social Ethics: 20-30, April 2015.
- The Unquiet Frontier: Tracing the Boundaries of Philosophy and Public Theology. Political Theology 16.1: 33-46, 2015.
- Is Practical Theology a form of ‘Action Research’? International Journal of Practical Theology 17.1: 1-31, 2013.
- The Archbishop Speaks, But Who Is Listening? The Dilemmas of Public Theology Today, Ecclesiology 8 (2012) 200–222.
- From Where Does the Red Tory Speak? Phillip Blond, Theology and Public Discourse, Political Theology 13.3 (2012) 292-307.
- What’s Missing? Gender, Reason and the Post-Secular, Political Theology 13.2, 2012: 233-45.
In Preparation :
Apologetics without Apology: Rethinking Christian Witness in a Post-Secular World. (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017)
(with Zoe Bennett, Stephen Pattison and Heather Walton) Advanced Research in Practical Theology (Ashgate).
Qualifications
BSc (Soc Sci), MA (Theol), PhD, FRSA, FHEA.