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Dr Sarah Lewis BA, MA, PhD

Contact Details

School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies
Tel: 01570 424950 (4950)
E-mail: sarah.lewis@trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk

Location

Sheikh Khalifa Building

First Floor


Campus

Lampeter Campus

Job Title

Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies


Role in the University

I am the Programme Co-ordinator for the BA on-campus degree schemes in TRIS and Senior Tutor (for undergraduate students).  I am the School’s Unfair Practice Co-ordinator and  a member of the University’s Unfair Practice Committee.   I am a member of the University’s Validation and Audit Standing Panel. 

I lecture and supervise at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the following areas: New Religious Movements, Religion in the Contemporary World, Alternative Spiritualities, Religion and Culture, Secularisation, Study Skills, Sociology of Religion, Psychology of Religion, Nineteenth Century Church History.

Background

  • PhD, Religious Studies, "Unificationism, Christianity and the Messianic Claims of Sun Myung Moon", University of Wales Lampeter, 1996.
  • MA, “Church, Religion and Society 1790-1920”, College of St Paul and St Mary, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (now the University of Gloucestershire), 1991.
  • BA (2:1), Religious Studies and English (Combined Honours), College of St Paul and St Mary, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (now the University of Gloucestershire), 1990.

Academic Interests

Alternative spiritualities



Publications

Recent Publications

  • “Global and Solitary: Dialogue and the Unification Church” (2012) International Journal for the Study of New Religions, Vol 3, No 1, 27-45.
  • "The Unification Movement: Science, Religion and Absolute Values" (2010) in Religion and the Authority of Science, James R Lewis and Olav Hamer eds, Leiden, Brill, 571-588.
  • Sacred Schisms, How Religions Divide (2009) edited with James R Lewis, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
  • "The Peculiar Sleep: Receiving The Urantia Book" (2008) in Sacred Traditions, James R Lewis ed, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 199-212.

Current Research:

  • I am currently working on a chapter on the Unification Church for a new edition of James R Lewis’ Controversial New Religions, for Oxford University Press.


Internal Examining:

  • PhD, Nancy Tarr Hart “Beyond the Veil – Unmasking the Feminine”, 2011.
  • PhD, Stuart Heywood, “The Influence of German Romanticism on the Philosophy of Rudolf Steiner”, 2009.
  • PhD, Richard Harvey, “Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology”, 2008.
  • PhD, Valerie Martin, “Liberation Theology and Contextual Biblical Exegesis: An exploration of its relevance to South East Wales with special reference to Torfaen”, 2008.
  • MPhil, Naboth Uzoma Njoku, “The Impact of the Pioneer Christian Missionaries on African Traditional Religion in Nigeria”, 2008.
  • MPhil, Byong-ok Son, “Shamanism in Korean Christianity”, 2007.
  • PhD, Mi Young Park, “Open-ended Marginality, Korea and Korean Women”, 2005.
  • PhD, WJ Walsh, “The Ascension Theology of Joseph Smith”, 2005
  • PhD, David Hannah, “Death and Immortality within the Unificationist Tradition”, 2004
  • MPhil, Sun Jin Park, “Christianity in Korea”, 1999.

 Completed Supervision:

  • PhD, Andreas Pohlmann “Sustainable Application of Total Quality Management/Ministry Principles in Christian Churches.  Developing Quality for Eternity”.
  • PhD, Bryan Allen, “Christian New Religious Movements: evolution or heresy?”, 2009.
  • MPhil, Michael Berman, "The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story", 2006.
  • PhD, James Perfect, “Modern Magic and Magical Practices”, 2004.
  • PhD, James R Lewis, “The Legitimation of New Religions”, 2003.

 Current Supervision:

  • “Guardian Angels: Subjective Experience or Objective Reality?”
  • “Grounded Theory and the Religious Imagination”.
  • “Reactions to the Mormon Mission to Wales in the Nineteenth Century”.   

External Examining:

  • MA Religion and Society, Liverpool Hope University, 2010-2012
  • PhD, Julie Hall, “The Concept of Reincarnation in Theosophy”, 2012
  • BA (Hons) Religious Studies/BTh/Combined Honours Theology and Religious Studies/Combined Honours Religion and Culture, University of Chester, 2004 – 2008
  • MA/Diploma Contemporary Spirituality, University of Chester, 2004 – 2008
  • PhD, John Selby, “Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy and Esotericism”, University of Exeter, 2008
  • External adviser for the review and revalidation of Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, 2007
  • PhD, Ruth Bradby, “The Book of Miracles”, University of Chester, 2006.