Prof. Adam Dinham

Staff details

Position

Professor of Faith & Public Policy

Department

Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies

Email

a.dinham (@gold.ac.uk)

Links

Website
gold.ac.uk/stacs

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Director, Faiths and Civil Society Unit

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

MPhil/PhD Religious Studies
Religion, Belief and Spirituality in Professional Practice
MA Applied Anthropology, Community Development and Youth Work

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.

Featured publications

2020: Dinham A (2020) Religion and Belief Literacy: Reconnecting a Chain of Learning Bristol: Policy Press
Monograph

2018: Baker C, Crisp B.R and Dinham A (eds) (2018) Re-imagining Religion and Belief for 21st Century Policy and Practice Bristol and Chicago: Policy Press
Co-edited research collection

2019: Crisp B and Dinham A (2019a) Are the Profession’s Education Standards Promoting the Religious Literacy Required for Twenty-First Century Social Work P
Journal article

2019: Crisp B and Dinham A (2019b) Do the Regulatory Standards Require Religious Literacy of Health and Social Care Professionals? Social Policy and Adminis
Journal article

2018: Dinham A (2018) Religion and Belief in Health and Social Care: the case for Religious Literacy International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare vol
Journal article

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

Religion and Belief Literacy: Reconnecting a Chain of Learning Dinham, Adam. 2020. Religion and Belief Literacy: Reconnecting a Chain of Learning. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447344650
Re-imagining Religion and Belief: 21st Century Policy and Practice Baker, Christopher; Crisp, Beth and Dinham, Adam. 2018. Re-imagining Religion and Belief: 21st Century Policy and Practice. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447347095
Faith & Social Capital After the Debt Crisis Dinham, Adam. 2012. Faith & Social Capital After the Debt Crisis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230276987

Edited Book

Religious Literacy in Policy and Practice Dinham, Adam and Francis, Matthew, eds. 2015. Religious Literacy in Policy and Practice. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 978-1447316664
Faith in the Public Realm: controversies, policies and practices Dinham, Adam; Furney, Rob and Lowndes, Vivien, eds. 2009. Faith in the Public Realm: controversies, policies and practices. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 978-1847420299

Book Section

Religious Literacy in Modern Europe, in Religious Literacy, Law and History: perspectives on European Pluralist Societies Davie, Grace and Dinham, Adam. 2018. Religious Literacy in Modern Europe, in Religious Literacy, Law and History: perspectives on European Pluralist Societies. In: Alberto Melloni and Francesca Caddedu, eds. Religious Literacy, Law and History: Perspectives on European Pluralist Societies. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 17-28. ISBN 9781138303645
Religious Literacy and Public and Professional Settings Dinham, Adam. 2017. Religious Literacy and Public and Professional Settings. In: Beth Crisp, ed. Routledge International Handbook of Religion, Spirituality and Social Work. Melbourne: Routledge.
Religious Illiteracy in Modern Europe Dinham, Adam and Davie, Grace. 2017. Religious Illiteracy in Modern Europe. In: Francesca Caddedu and A;berto Melloni, eds. European Religious Illiteracy in a Pluralistic Context. Bologne: Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII.

Developing Religious Literacy in Higher Education Dinham, Adam. 2016. Developing Religious Literacy in Higher Education. In: Kristin Aune and J Stevenson, eds. Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America. Coventry: Routledge. ISBN 9781138652958
Public Religion in an Age of Ambivalence: Recovering Religious Literacy after a Century of Secularism Dinham, Adam. 2015. Public Religion in an Age of Ambivalence: Recovering Religious Literacy after a Century of Secularism. In: Lori Beaman and Leo van Arragon, eds. Issues in Religion and Education: Whose Religion? Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004289802
Grace Davie and Religious Literacy: undoing a lamentable quality of conversation Dinham, Adam. 2015. Grace Davie and Religious Literacy: undoing a lamentable quality of conversation. In: Abby Day and Mia Lovheim, eds. Modernities, Memory and Mutations: Grace Davie and the Study of Religion. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 9781472436177
Religion, welfare and education Dinham, Adam and Jackson, Robert. 2012. Religion, welfare and education. In: Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto, eds. Religion and Change in Modern Britain. London: Routledge, pp. 272-294. ISBN 9780415575805
Welfare, Education and Religion Dinham, Adam and Jackson, Robert. 2012. Welfare, Education and Religion. In: Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto, eds. Religion and Change in Modern Britain. Abingdon and NY: Routledge, pp. 272-294. ISBN 978-0415575812
Faith-Based Social Action in Combating Marginalisation Dinham, Adam; Addy, T and Kahkonen, E. 2011. Faith-Based Social Action in Combating Marginalisation. In: E Kahkonen and T Pauha, eds. Faith-Based Social Action in Combating Marginalisation. Helsinki: DIAK. ISBN 978-952-493-159-5
Faith and the public realm Dinham, Adam and Lowndes, Vivien. 2009. Faith and the public realm. In: Adam Dinham; R Furbey and V Lowndes, eds. Faith in the public realm: controversies, policies and practices. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 1-20. ISBN 9781847420305
Faith in the Public Realm Dinham, Adam and Lowndes, Vivien. 2009. Faith in the Public Realm. In: Adam Dinham; Robert Furbey and Vivien Lowndes, eds. Faith in the Public Realm. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 1-21. ISBN 978-1847420299

Article

Reimagining Religion and Belief in the Public Sphere Dinham, Adam. 2020. Reimagining Religion and Belief in the Public Sphere. Modern Believing, 61(2), pp. 141-151. ISSN 1353-1425
Are codes of ethics promoting religious literacy for social work practice? Crisp, Beth R and Dinham, Adam. 2020. Are codes of ethics promoting religious literacy for social work practice? Australian Social Work, 73(2), pp. 204-216. ISSN 0312-407X
The role of occupational standards in workplace religious literacy Crisp, Beth and Dinham, Adam. 2020. The role of occupational standards in workplace religious literacy. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 41(3), pp. 358-370. ISSN 1361-7672

Conference or Workshop Item

Religion and Belief in Universities Dinham, Adam. 2010. 'Religion and Belief in Universities'. In: Higher Education Equal Opportunities Network. Warwick University, United Kingdom June 2010.
Faith, Welfare and Social Justice Dinham, Adam. 2010. 'Faith, Welfare and Social Justice'. In: British Sociological Association conference. Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom.
Why Faith Matters to Community Cohesion Dinham, Adam. 2010. 'Why Faith Matters to Community Cohesion'. In: ESRC/Institute for Community Cohesion seminar. Goldsmiths, United Kingdom April 2010.

Professional Activity

Association of Commonwealth Universities directorship Dinham, Adam. Association of Commonwealth Universities directorship.
CoExistence Trust, House of Lords - Advisor Dinham, Adam. CoExistence Trust, House of Lords - Advisor.

Project

Adapting community impact tools for faith based community action Dinham, Adam. 2010-2011 Adapting community impact tools for faith based community action.
Religious Literacy Leadership in Higher Education Dinham, Adam. 2009-2011 Religious Literacy Leadership in Higher Education.
Religion and Society network on faith, young people and civil society Dinham, Adam. 2009-2011 Religion and Society network on faith, young people and civil society.

Report

RE for REal: the future of teaching and learning about religion and belief Dinham, Adam and Shaw, Martha. 2015. RE for REal: the future of teaching and learning about religion and belief. Project Report. FCSU, London.
More than Measurement: assessing quality through reflection in faith based social action Dinham, Adam; Finneron, Doreen; Summer, S and Winter, J. 2011. More than Measurement: assessing quality through reflection in faith based social action. Other. FbRN, London.
Religious Literacy Leadership Programme Evaluation Dinham, Adam and Jones, Stephen. 2011. Religious Literacy Leadership Programme Evaluation. Other. London

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

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