Dr Stefan Skrimshire
- Position: Associate Professor
- Areas of expertise: Political theology; eco-theology; continental philosophy of religion (including critical theory); environmental humanities; extinction studies.
- Email: S.Skrimshire@leeds.ac.uk
- Phone: +44(0)113 343 5266
- Location: 3.02 Botany House
Profile
Previous posts: Religions & Theology, University of Manchester; Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) at the University of Leeds.
My work bridges Christian political theology and continental philosophy, and is usually in dialogue with the environmental humanities. I'm interested in how Christian thought continues to shape and inform political life, particularly in relation to climate change activism. My research projects all relate to the religious, ethical and philosophical responses to mass extinction, climate emergency, the Anthropocene epoch.
Research interests
Funded research projects:
- (Co-I) Extinction Studies Doctoral Training Programme (Leverhulme, 2021–2027)
- (PI) Thinking, Creating and Feeling Through Extinction (AHRC follow-on funding, 2022 – 2023): explores diverse publics’ engagement with the mass extinction crisis through creative, visual and performing arts.
- (PI) Thinking Through Extinction: cultural heritage as stimulus for exploring philosophies of extinction (AHRC Large Grant 2018–2021) - working with Manchester Museum, writers and artists to explore public engagement with the imagination of extinction.
- (PI) Religion and Extinction Network (AHRC Network, PI, 2018–2020) - the first academic network of scholars examining religious traditions and indigenous spiritualties' responses to the "sixth mass extinction"; working with Encounter Arts to engage publics with the question of faith and extinction.
- (PI) Imagining and Representing Species Extinctions (White Rose doctoral network, lead researcher, 2017–2020) - involving 3 students and 6 academic across Leeds, York, Sheffield, and crossing disciplines of philosophy and theology, English literature, design, management, and marine biology.
Keen to supervise the following areas:
- Political theology
- Ecotheology
- Continental philosophy of religion
- Religion and critical/cultural theory
- Religion and environmental humanities/environmental ethics
- Jewish and Christian apocalyptic belief
- Christianity and political protest
- Literature and theology
- Extinction as cultural heritage? Exhibiting human-nature entanglements with extinct and threatened species
- Religion and Extinction Network
Qualifications
- BA (Durham)
- MA (Manchester)
- PhD (Manchester)
Student education
I currently lead the following modules:
- Religion, Politics and the Future (L3)
- Existentialism and Phenomenology (L3)
- Religion, Politics and Society (Masters)
I am currently supervising the following PhD Students:
- Mike Love – Political Theology of the City.
- Jodie Salter – Religion and climate change in United Nations negotiations.
- Kathryn Gwyther – Utopianism in Hebrew scriptures.
- Marcello Newall – Tikkum Olam and Jürgen Moltmann’s eschatology.
- Marie-Thérèse Talensby – Ecogrief, spirituality and extinction activism.
Previous PhD students:
- Seung Kim – Eschatology of the Korean church
Research groups and institutes
- Centre for Religion and Public Life
- Environmental Humanities Research Group
- Theology and Religious Studies
- Centre for Endangered Languages, Cultures and Ecosystems
- Centre for Philosophy of Religion and Theology
Current postgraduate researchers
- Samia F Naqvi
- Shai Tubali
- Katherine Gwyther
- Seung David Kim
- Jodie Salter
- Marcello Newall
- Marie-Thérèse Talensby
- Rachel Grandey