PhD Research in Focus

PhD Title: Does the use of bottom up approaches in peacebuilding interventions increase local ownership?

I am a Ph.D. Researcher in International Peace Studies and a Development Aid worker with an academic background in Political Science and Economics. Over the past years, I worked with different UN Entities and NGOs in development and humanitarian settings in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central/South Asia in progressively responsible M&E capacities.

My doctoral research focuses on local ownership in peacebuilding processes and analyzes how and if Adaptive Peacebuilding interventions can build local ownership through the empirical case study of the peacebuilding process in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. My main research interests are: adaptive peacebuilding, bottom up approaches to peacebuilding, Design Monitoring and Evaluation for peace and peace education.

Supervisor: Professor Etain Tannam

PhD Title: Beatitudes and Woes in the Synoptic Tradition: a Catalogue of the Q-Source?

I graduated in Philosophy (BA, MA) at Università degli Studi (Milan) and I am now a Ph.D. Researcher in the field of the New Testament (Religious Studies), with a particular focus in the range of historical-critical studies and two-sources hypothesis criticism. The goal of this research is threefold: 1. it aims to deepen the complementary value of the sets of beatitudes and woes attested by Matthew and Luke; 2. it attempts to reconstruct the hypothetical Q-catalogue that may originated these sets of sayings; 3. it investigates their peculiar use in the narratological structures of these two gospels.

Supervisor: Professor Benjamin Wold

PhD title: A Political Pope In Hell: The Cardinal Sin. The Political Theology of Dante Alighieri

MPhil in International Peace Studies and recipient of the James Haire Memorial Prize for best dissertation. Honours Bachelor’s Degree in World Religions, Theology & Near and Middle Eastern Studies.

My current research explores how Dante Alighieri’s (1265-1321) political theology is expressed within his Divine Comedy. It will demonstrate how Dante uses theology to reflect critically on the governing political authorities and the ecclesiastical organisations and to articulate his plea for reform, by using two strategies, the first being the literary device Contrapasso and the second, through his critical and creative imagining of an alternative world in which divinely sanctioned accountability takes concrete shape.

Supervisor: Professor Andrew Pierce

PhD Title: Jews and Judaism in Luke-Acts – A Socio-Cognitive Analysis of Early Christian Anti-Judaism and the Parting of the Ways

I was working as a Social Worker (BA, MA) for 4 years in my home country Germany before I moved to the United States to study Theology in Chicago (MDiv). Since September 2022, I am a Doctoral Student in Religious Studies as part of the structured PhD program at Trinity College in Dublin. For my PhD research, I apply insights and methods from the Cognitive Science of Religion for the analysis of Anti-Judaism and the Parting of the Ways in Luke-Acts. My goal thereby is to detect socio-cognitive patterns which describe the dynamics behind the portrayal of Jews and Judaism in Luke-Acts regarding the early diversification between Christianity and Judaism. This will shine new light on these issues which have been debated for a long time in biblical scholarship without having been resolved yet.

Supervisor: Professor Benjamin Wold

PhD Title: Militarised masculiity and UNPK - the case of South Korea

Considering that every peacekeeping mission involves military personnel, regardless of using armed forces, and that problems caused by peacekeepers’ misbehavior such as sexual exploitation and abuse against the local women are still prevalent, I think it is necessary to explore the construction of soldier’s militarized masculinity and how it is changed, and reshaped by peacekeeping missions. I’m also highly interested in the education field especially for women and children in conflict-ridden societies who can rarely have the opportunity to get an education. It would be great to cooperate with these people in making genuine, sustainable ‘security’ and ‘peace’.

Supervisor: Professor Gillian Wylie

PhD Title: Christian Wonder and the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh

Supervisor: Prof. Fáinche Ryan

PhD Title: Whatever you have learned from me…put it into practice: Spiritual formation and lived theology in female religious run and occupied Irish institutions from 1922 to 1996

There is also a gap in looking at the ‘input’ factors that led to these institutions flourishing in Ireland. Public inquiries and survivor testimony give an insight into what happened, but very much less is written on answering ‘why’ and ‘how’. Currently my main strands of research are: context setting; the history of the Orders who ran these institutions; the relationship of the Catholic Church and the State, specifically in outsourcing welfare; the theology of shame, obedience, clericalism, redemption strategies; the binary view of women (‘fallen’ vs. ‘virgin’) and seeking to chart the history of these views. During lockdown, I completed an MA in Family History (charting the history of the family farm in Leitrim). I also have a Diploma in Theology, an MBA and a BSc in Economics. Previously I was an award winning property developer. I am on the boards of a number of charities and also play the piano.

Supervisor: Professor Linda Hogan

PhD Title: Called to Preach the Word: Laity and the ministry of preaching’ – A case study in ecclesiology.

The challenge to have the gospel heard in the present age is immense. This thesis will explore a question of profound importance for the Church in the present and for its future - the question of ministry and who can minister in the Church. It is a question whose answer will impact upon how the gospel is proclaimed, how discipleship is nurtured, and how the mission to evangelize is carried forward.

The thesis will explore questions of ministry, paying particular attention to the ministry of preaching, and a consideration of who may, and who may not, preach today. The theology underpinning these permissions will be explored, critiqued and evaluated to determine if current law and practice might perhaps need to change in light of a deepening theological understanding of ministry.

Supervisor: Professor Fáinche Ryan

PhD Title: The Aesthetics and Poetics of the Oxford Movement

My research attempts to trace and place the Oxford movement - a movement that sought to reclaim the ancient Catholic heritage of the Church of England - in the society and the culture of Victorian England using contemporary philosopher Charles Taylor’s account of the development of the modern identity as an interpretive key. In particular the research will focus on the influence early Romanticism had on the Movement’s key protagonists, and on the Movement’s literary and poetic output, stretching beyond its initial phase to encompass later 19th century poets such as Gerard Manley Hopkins and Christina Rossetti.

Supervisor: Professor Michael Kirwan

PhD Title: Rethinking Conceptions of Mentoring within Adaptive Peacebuilding in Warzones Using a Postcolonial Indigenous Research Paradigm

My research focuses on the reconceptualization of mentoring as an adaptive peacebuilding practice in warzones. I'm specifically examining the axiology, ontology, and epistemology of relational mentoring within active warzones and how individuals can move within relational, traditional and dysfunctional mentoring relationships to build and sustain networks and cultures of peace across conflict lines and across levels of society.

My case study is Nuba Mountains in Sudan which has been in an active state of civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) since 2011 without UN support.

Supervisors: Professor David Mitchell and Dr Dong Jin Kim.

PhD Title: The Wandering Minstrels of Hope: Tracing the Role of Women’s Grassroots Peacebuilding in Kashmir and Northern Ireland

My research is in feminist peace studies and war politics. I am identifying the similarities of peacebuilding approach in terms of non-violent peace movement against the militarism in both of these societies. My work is preoccupied with the pivotal role of women in investigating the importance of political identity in post-conflict reconstruction and the agency of unarmed political collaborators in bringing out the waves of sustainable change and practices of inclusion.

I am also a research assistant for “Pericles”, an EU funded project and I have presented papers at international conferences around Dublin, London, Oxford and Delhi. My research interests are Feminist peacebuilding, Transversal Politics, and Non-violent political action. My academic background includes an MPhil in Gender Studies, an MA in English and Cultural Studies, and a BA in English.

Supervisor: Professor Gillian Wylie

PhD Title: Pigs – The Transient Expedients for the Subjugation of ‘Others’ in Christian and Jewish Context

I am a PhD researcher based in the school of religions and theology, working in trans-disciplinary fields that centre on the theme of animals in religious contexts. This work builds on my interests of eco-feminism, human-animal studies and religion and ecology and the importance of religion in shaping the treatment and uses of animals and directing human relationships in contemporary society.

Ethics has been the overarching theme of my academic career, having previously taught the subject for 9 years at undergraduate level. My MA thesis centred on applying utilitarian ethical formulae to the treatment of zoo animal subjects. Ethics, eco-feminism and eco-justice, liberation theology, religious pluralism, social-psychology, the philosophy of human-animal relationships, interreligious relations and discourse, animals in religious contexts and religion and ecology will all feature as major disciplinary influences and form the primary inter-disciplinary inspiration for my future academic output. Through my work at Trinity and as I progress in my career, I hope to produce research that centres the premises of justice and liberation for subjugated humans and non-human animals as the primary motivating vocational aims.

Supervisor: Professor Jacob Erickson

PhD Title: The Virgin Mary in Co. Dublin, 1869-1944: The Reception of the Bible in Stained Glass

Focusing on the period from 1869, the year when the Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished, to 1944, when the celebrated Irish glass producers An Túr Gloine closed their doors, this study will examine the varying depictions of the Virgin Mary during a period in which the far larger Catholic church rose from poverty to wealth and prominence, a number of significant Irish artists began and finished their careers, and independence movements resulted in the partition of the island. Mary is both a fruitful and highly revealing subject matter for the purpose of this study, given both the prolific depictions of her in Christian art and the diverse choices made in portraying her, which allow us insight into understandings of the Bible and faith of artists, patrons and congregations.

I completed my BA in Film Studies at the University of Kent in 2013 and my MA in Medieval Studies at the University of York in 2019. I am the recipient of the Provost PhD Award from Trinity College. When I’m not working on my PhD I enjoy photography, Gilbert and Sullivan, and cricket.,

Supervisor: Professor David Shepherd

My Ph.D. thesis investigates aspects of religious experience in early Christian apocalyptic writings, especially in the Ascension of Isaiah which originates with a Jewish text. This composition is particularly important because it is widely considered to be important for the study of early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic. I am analyzing fragments of the writing that may be expressions of ancient Christians and how they expressed their encounters with the divine. This research is based on the observation that these texts often have as their raison d’être in some religious experience of author and/or of community.

Supervisor: Professor Benjamin Wold

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Kirwan

PhD Title: The Refugee Crisis as a Moral Political Challenge. A Comparison of the Approaches of H. Arendt, S. Benhabib and O. O’Neill.’

The Refugee Crisis in Europe has led to a new debate on obligations and rights, on polarity and stability of societies committed to dignity, liberty and equality. My goal in this thesis is to analyse the contribution of the three philosophers in this context, by discussing the background of their approaches. Each of the listed thinkers considers elements from Aristotelian and Kantian ethics, such as the understandings of virtue and justice, the good and the right, community and the will to live together. In my research dissertation, I am examining the problems caused by the present wave of refugees and its consequences for European societies. My specific background as a refugee from Afghanistan, who grew up in Germany has given me an insight in what it means to start a new life as a refugee in a European country.

Supervisors: Professor Cathriona Russell and Professor Gillian Wylie

Supervisor: Professor Fáinche Ryan

PhD Title: Understanding the Implications of The Women, Peace and Security Agenda (UNSC1325) as Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding: Diverse SOGIE Peace Perspectives.

I am a PhD Candidate in International Peace Studies, with a focus on multi-gendered, intersectional peacebuilding. I have an academic background in Feminist Critique, International Relations, Political Studies and Queer IR Theory.

My doctoral focus is on queer-inclusive, intersectional peacebuilding. I am predominantly interested in working to decouple notions of ‘women’ and ‘gender’ to recast a gendered/sexual lens on all human subjects, regardless of their race, class, sexual identity, gender, age, income-level, or ableness. Through a post-structural perspective, I hope to situate LGBTQ peace perspectives firmly on the research agenda, and to not only dismantle society’s current identity categories but, to some extent, multiply these identities and bringing to light the multifaceted nature of each person within society. In sum, my work will demonstrate that by deconstructing traditional views on individual identities, society can work to realise the interrelated tropes between gender/sexuality identification(s) and international peacebuilding.

Supervisor: Professor Gillian Wylie

PhD Title: Re-membering Theology: Theopoetics and Three Irish Poets.

The poetic, the theological and the political have long been important dimensions of Irish national identity formation. However, the powerful interplay among these three, with full respect for each, lacks fresh perspectives. My research positions critical Christian inquiry about bodies, place and belonging, as an undervalued resource for deeper social and political engagement with urgent questions about identity in Ireland. At the same time, it positions poetry written by Irish women poets as an undervalued liberation resource, firstly in its social function as witness, memorial, and claim to public space, and secondly, in what it offers to critical theological inquiry in an ambivalently post-Christian Ireland, where, although the national mythology of “saints and scholars” persists, the siloing of theological discourse and literary practices impoverishes both disciplines, as well as the society inside of which both are active.

Drawing on the work of contemporary Catholic thinkers and a growing body of scholarship in the field of theopoetics, this study hopes to destabilize this mutual alienation by attending to the work of three Irish poets who happen to be female (Paula Meehan, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Colette Bryce), while asking: What are the consequences of taking poetry seriously as a resource for theological inquiry? And what does it look like, methodologically, to take poetry seriously as critical theological inquiry?

Supervisor: Professor Siobhán Garrigan

My research is an investigation into the reception of destruction of Jerusalem in Luke’s special material. It is driven first by an interest in the reception and place of Luke in light of the second century Marcionite controversy. The debate on the relationship between Luke and Marcion’s Gospel suggests that more adequate attention to the sources of Luke and assessment of its integrity and redaction are required. We not only recognize the impact of Marcion but also consider the background of such a movement to move away from Jewish roots. This study attempts to clarify the interpretation of the event as an identity formation of the early church through the use of destruction and punishment material.

Supervisor: Professor Benjamin Wold

My research compares a Permaculture project in Palestine with one in Zimbabwe as well as other initiatives in conflict-torn countries. My research interests include design thinking, complexity theory, degrowth, grassroots and indigenous movements, neurohumanities and ecological resilience alongside issues of environmental stresses, scarcity and their relationship with violence.

I have worked as a teaching assistant at the School of Ecumenics and the Sociology department. I am a recipient of a Studentship Award from the School of Religion, Peace Studies and Theology at Trinity and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Mexico.

Supervisor: Professor Brendan Ciarán Browne

The purpose of my research is to understand why certain foreign political parties, primarily those who have been connected to insurgent groups, are becoming formally involved in contemporary peace processes, what role they are playing, and if their involvement is having any impact. I contend that this emerging trend impacts important aspects of contemporary peace processes – the role of third parties; the transition of rebel groups from conflict to democratic politics; and the hybridisation of the liberal peace.

Supervisor: Professor Jude Lal Fernando

PhD Title: How do Future Worldviews Emerge? Quantum Physics, and the Case of Werner Heisenberg’s ‘Religion without God’.

Following my BA in the Study of Religion and History (Basel), I completed a MA in the History and Philosophy of Science (Vienna) and worked as a student assistant. My main research interests include [1] the relationships between religion/s and modern physics, [2] the aesthetics of religion/s and science, [3] theoretical and methodological approaches in the European History of Religion and the history of science, [4] the asymmetrical gender conception of scientists.

In my MA thesis, I associated systems theory and Derridean deconstruction to explored the concept of distance between the researcher and the researched, which is thought to facilitate the production of new and true knowledge. Currently, I work on the relationships between religion/s and quantum physics in Werner Heisenberg’s writings. In my PhD project, I examine: [1] how Heisenberg answers to contemporary changes in science and society in his “religious writings”, [2] the impact his writings had on the narratives of the evolution of modern physics, as well as on our contemporary understanding and forms of religion/s (e.g. complementarity and harmony between religion/s and science or different forms of mysticism), [3] the aesthetics of knowledge and Sinn, as well as the ways they inform emerging worldviews.

Supervisor: Professor Alexandra Grieser

Despite the abundance of research on the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, questions remain concerning the meaning of Matthew's phrase poor in spirit. By modifying a Greek term typically reserved as a reference to material poverty with the phrase in spirit, Matthew has drawn upon a deep exegetical stream not only within Second Temple Jewish texts but also within ancient Greek texts that develops various models of subjectivity to explore the human condition (sometimes by commoditizing the self). My research explores Matthew within the context of these diverse Second Temple Jewish models of self (with special focus on 4QInstruction and the Hodayot).

Supervisor: Professor Benjamin Wold

I’m a PhD candidate in Peace Studies. Under the umbrella of Peace Studies, I seek to understand the inconsistencies of current systems of peace through a feminist postcolonial lens. My research uses ‘feminist postcolonial international relations’ theory to engage with the United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security (UN WPS) Agenda. In doing so, I explore ‘Feminist Foreign Policy’ as a foreign policy instrument to implement the WPS Agenda and to further gender concerns in the international relations realm. The objective is to make the construction, reading and implementation of the Agenda more inclusive for women from postcolonial nations. The long term goal of my work is to contribute ways in which postcolonial nations can put gender concerns to the forefront of their policies, and also to further gender equality and aid women in conflict. I also hope my work would be significant to the movement towards inclusive theoretical pluralism, contributing to the ongoing decentering of Western and patriarchal hegemony in understanding gender issues of South Asia.

I have been awarded the Trinity Research in Social Sciences (TRiSS) Postgraduate Research Fellowship (2022-23) and the Laura Bassi Scholarship for Editorial Assistance (2022-23).

Supervisor: Professor Gillian Wylie

My research aims to shed light on the Syrophoenician woman, a marginal biblical character who appears in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, and in other early Christian writings, such as the pseudo-Clementine literature. In my research, I apply the model of intersectionality as an analytical framework to examine the Syrophoenician woman’s complex social identities, and to visualize how different literary representations of the woman have epitomized changes in her social locations as perceived by the authors. Prior to my beginning as a Ph.D. student, I read for the M.A. in New Testament at Yale Divinity School and the M.Sc. in Biblical Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Supervisor: Professor Daniele Pevarello

If theology is to take better account of disability, it must consider how it treats ability and vulnerability in both God and humanity. Concepts such as “virtuous suffering” can lead to an emphasis on self-sacrifice, which can mean that people with disabilities feel forced to be obedient rather than declare their self-worth. This requires examining how one understands Christ’s finitude, suffering, kenosis, and what Christ’s identification with humanity means for people with disabilities. Similarly, the classical attributes of God, for example, his omnipotence, have been questioned by disability theologians. The critique that the God of classical theism represents the strong is especially relevant for a marginalised group that is particularly cognisant of their limitations. One is faced with the question of whether there is a need for an alternative understanding of God, or if classical theism can speak to people with disabilities. Finally, it is necessary to examine soteriology and eschatology, considering what Christ’s post-resurrection suggests about resurrected bodies. Disability studies also has potential resources for thinking anew about familiar themes, for example, crip time could contribute to thinking again about eternity and eschatology.

Supervisor: Professor Siobhán Garrigan

Supervisor: Professor Carlo Aldrovandi

My research focuses on the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, interpretation, and children’s Bibles. In particular, I am interested in how the Bible is rewritten for children, why particular adaptive choices are made, and how these changes alter, inform, or subvert the meaning(s) of the biblical text. My PhD research project focuses on the interpretive influences underlying adaptations of Genesis 1–3 in select Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish children’s Bibles from 1980 to present. I am currently a non-residential PhD candidate based in Vancouver, BC. In addition to my PhD research, I also serve as the part time Director of Family Ministry at my local church.

BA (Western Washington University); MATS, ThM (Regent College); GDTS (Vancouver School of Theology)

Supervisor: Professor David Shepherd

PhD Title: Every Word from the Mouth of God: Isomorphism in Aquila, Targum Onqelos, and Other Ancient Bible Translations of Numbers

My research focuses on analysing whether isomorphism uniquely characterises Aquila and Targum Onqelos’ translation techniques in the context of other ancient translations and translation characteristics. I hope to shed further light on the historical association between Aquila and Targum Onqelos and to consider whether the καíγε tradition is an exclusively Greek or perhaps multilingual phenomenon.

BS in Interdisciplinary Studies (Liberty University, Virginia); Graduate Diploma in Intercultural Studies (Johnson University, Tennessee); MAR in Biblical Studies (Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia); MA in Linguistics & Translation (Canada Institute of Linguistics and Trinity Western Seminary, British Columbia)

Supervisor: Professor David Shepherd

PhD Title: Non-Negotiability in Conflict: Religious Zionist Attachment to Land and Temple in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

My research focuses on how conflict transformation scholars and practitioners address absolute commitments of conflict parties to deeply held values. The research surveys the shortcomings of mainstream conflict resolution approaches in conceptualizing and addressing value-based types of non-negotiability; explores absolute commitments of religious Zionists to two deeply held values of theirs - the Land of Israel and the Temple Mount; and explores theoretical and practical efforts for addressing these as part of conflict transformation in the Israeli-Palestinian context.

Supervisor: Professor Carlo Aldrovandi