Edward A. David

Understanding Gen Z’s Religious and Spiritual Role Models

Increasingly, young people are disaffiliating from organised religion. The rise of the ‘nones’ (ie those with no religious affiliation) suggests that young people are looking elsewhere to find deep meaning and inspiration in their lives. Where are they looking? And, more specifically, who are they looking up to?

In this project, we will explore the types of religious and/or spiritual role models that young people have. Are their role models anything like the saints and sages of old? To identify these exemplars, we will use an insightful (and fun) qualitative research method – story completion – and we will write up our analysis in a publishable article manuscript. Co-supervised with Claire MacLeod (Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford).

Outcomes

At the end of the programme, you will have contributed to the data collection, qualitative analysis (including engagement with philosophical and theological literatures), as well as the writing of a co-authored article manuscript.

Together, we will shine light on who young people think are religiously and/or spiritually admirable and, by extension, to consider what this might mean for society. You will hit the ground running with data collection (eg using online channels to find a modest number of research participants). And, with the research team, you will help make sense of participants’ responses as they come in. This sense-making will include diving into relevant literatures from theology, philosophy, and moral psychology.

In the final weeks of the programme, you may have the opportunity to contribute to the writing of the article manuscript from this small-scale, yet meaningful, qualitative study.

Entry requirements

A background in theology and religion, philosophy, and/or psychology is preferred. No experience in qualitative research methods is required just curiosity and an eagerness to learn. Familiarity with the latest, and most used, social media channels (eg Tik Tok, Instagram) will be useful.

Religious Madness in the Age of the Asylum

The aim of the project is to identify and transcribe first-hand narratives of “religious madness” (ie psychological and spiritual experiences that were considered disordered or insane) written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These data will be used in the longer term for multi-disciplinary research analysis.

Your primary task will be to help identify suitable narratives by conducting keyword searches in online databases (eg HathiTrust, Google Books, Worldcat, ECCO, archive.org), by reviewing existing bibliographies of madness narratives (eg Gail Hornstein’s bibliography), and by reviewing published collections of patient writings (eg the New York State Hospital’s journal of patient writings, The Opal, accessible online) as well as digitised archives of asylum documents (eg, Wellcome’s substantial online resource). You will also devote some time to transcribing narratives that have already been identified by the project supervisors. Co-supervised with Professor Mark W. Lee (Crandall University, Canada).

Outcomes

You will develop skills and gain hands-on experience in various aspects of research in the humanities, including digital research methods, analysis of primary (historical) sources, data management, and collaboration with other scholars.

Entry requirements

You should have an interest in history, life-writing, and the health humanities. Experience using Excel would be useful but is not required.