Prof. Adam Dinham

Staff details

Prof. Adam Dinham

Position

Professor of Faith & Public Policy

Department

Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies

Email

a.dinham (@gold.ac.uk)

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Professor of Faith and Public Policy, and co-head of department of Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies

Adam Dinham combines Applied Social Studies and Social Policy (MA, Brunel), Politics (PhD, Goldsmiths), and Sociology (former chair, BSA Sociology of Religion) with Theology and Religious Studies (BA, MA, Cambridge), alongside professional qualifications in children’s Social Work (DipSW, Brunel), Community Development and Youth Work (Brunel), and Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP, UWE). He is co-head of the department of Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies and director of the Faiths & Civil Society Unit, Goldsmiths. He is also Professor of Religion and Belief Literacy at VID University, Oslo, Norway, Fellow of the Westminster Abbey Institute for Faith and Public Life, and former Chair of the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group (2015-18).

Academic qualifications

  • BA Theology & Religious Studies, Cambridge University 1996
  • MA Theology & Religious Studies, Cambridge University 2000
  • MA Applied Social Studies and Social Policy, Brunel University 2001
  • Diploma in Social Work 2001
  • PGDiploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2003
  • PhD Politics, Goldsmiths, University of London 2005
  • Advanced Diploma in Counselling P& Psychotherapy 2020

Teaching and supervision

Research interests

Adam's interests coalesce in a social justice framing of religion and belief as a protected characteristic in equality policy and practice, across the public sphere but particularly in health and social care, and in schools. Coming from a secular perspective, he has pioneered and popularized the concept of ‘religion and belief literacy’ as a social justice tool in these settings and, with ESRC and AHRC support, researched public policy gaps and needs, initiating a Religion and Belief Policy Network to help public policy makers and regulators develop effective policy for workplaces in this area.

Grants and awards

2019: Muslim participation in elite arts and culture
AHRC Collaborative doctoral studentship award

2019: Reimagining Religion and Belief for Policy and Practice
AHRC research project

2018: Innovative Teaching and Learning of Religion and Belief in UK schools
Culham St Gabriel's Trust

Publications and research outputs

Book

Edited Book

Book Section

Article

Conference or Workshop Item

Professional Activity

Project

Report

Professional projects

Adam Dinham also works as a counselling therapist in private practice.

Co-director, Religion and belief Literacy Partnership, providing training on religion and belief literacy in workplaces

Conferences and talks

2019: NHS Employers Conference on Spirituality in the Workplace, Leeds, UK, July 2019

2019: Asian Firefighters National Conference, keynote, Sheffield, UK, November 2019

2019: The Challenge of Public Religion, Uppsala University, Sweden, April 2019

2016: Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, New Interdisciplinary Spaces of Religions and Belief in Thinking and Practice: an analysis 3 November 2016

2016: Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, USA, Religion in a Plural Age: religious literacy – contested and pressing 9 July 2016

2016: University of Essen, Germany, Religious Literacy and Diversity in German Universities, 30 June 2016

2015: Cambridge University, AHRC Cambridge Festival of Ideas (10 year celebratory event) Panellist keynote The Future of Teaching and Learning about Relig