Dr David Tombs
Assistant Professor in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation
Dr. David Tombs is Assistant Professor on the Belfast-based M.Phil. in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation. He has a BA in theology and philosophy from University of Oxford, an STM in theology from Union Theological Seminary, New York, an MA in applied philosophy from the Institute of Education, University of London, and a doctorate in theology at Heythrop College, University of London.
His primary focus is on religion, ethics and reconciliation, and his areas of expertise include: Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland; Post-Conflict Justice and Truth Commissions in Latin America; and political and contextual Christian theologies in a global perspective. His publications include Latin American Liberation Theology (Boston and Leiden: Brill 2002), Truth and Memory: The Church and Human Rights in El Salvador and Guatemala (edited with Michael A. Hayes; Leominster: Gracewing 2001) and edited the collection Rights and Righteousness: Religious Pluralism and Human Rights (Belfast: Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, forthcoming). In addition to Northern Ireland he has carried out research in El Salvador, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Israel/Palestine. His current research is focussed on gender violence and torture practices, and its implications for theology.
In 2007 he received a Trinity Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence and in 2008 he was a visiting research fellow in Public Theology at the Centre of Theological Inquiry at Princeton. Ph.D. students working with Dr. Tombs are doing work on: the theological ethics of sanctuary as hospitality; the theologies of liberation and reconciliation in Northern Ireland; and political discourse on reconciliation in Peruvian blogs.
Areas of expertise
Theologies of reconciliation, truth commission research, torture practices, public theology
Modules taught
Dynamics of Reconciliation
Theology of Reconciliation
Transitional Justice and Truth Commissions
Education
Ph.D. Theology, Heythrop College, University of London
M.A. Institute of Education, University of London
PGCE, University of Birmingham
STM, Union Theological Seminary, New York
B.A. Trinity College, University of Oxford, 1987 (MA in 1990)
Contact details
Email: tombsd@tcd.ie
Direct Tel: +44 (0) 28 9037 3989
General Tel: +44 (0) 28 9077 5010
Fax: +44 (0) 28 9037 3986
Select publications
- Edited with Joseph Liechty, Explorations in Reconciliation: New Directions for Theology, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006
- Latin American Liberation Theology, Religion in the Americas Series Vol. 1, Boston and Leiden: Brill, 2002
- Edited with M.A. Hayes, Truth and Memory: The Church and Human Rights in El Salvador and Guatemala, Leominster: Gracewing, 2001