Spirituality, Religion, and the Transpersonal (SPIRIT) Research Group

The Spirituality, Religion, and the Transpersonal (SPIRIT) Research Group draws together researchers and practitioners engaged in the study of spirituality, religion, faith, and transpersonal phenomena. Positioned at the intersection of multiple academic and professional domains, the Group provides a home for work that seeks to understand spiritual and transpersonal experience in individual lives, communities, cultural and social systems. Its central aim is to support and develop critical thinking, insights and applications by research group members and colleagues.

The SPIRIT Research Group draws on a constellation of disciplinary perspectives. These include chaplaincy, education, literature, political science, multiple branches of psychology, and sociology. The Group fosters an openness to additional disciplinary contributions, recognising that spirituality, religion, faith and the transpersonal are inherently multidimensional phenomena that benefit from interdisciplinary dialogue.

Non-academic staff:

• Revd Dr Richard Davey, Co-ordinating Chaplain
• Robina Din, Multi-Faith Manager (interim)

Michael Keenan and Carrie Paechter: ‘Finding something in nothing: Exploring meaning and challenge in the everyday experiences of sexually abstinent religious university students’ British Academy Small Grant Wellcome Trust.

SPIRIT works closely with NTU Faith.

Adam. M. and Chowdhury. R., (2025). Islamic Epistemology in conducting insider research on Spiritual Abuse in Muslim communities in the UK. Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions, 27, 18-48.

Chowdhury, R., Gilani, S., and Bashir, A. (2025). Faith-Centric Mental Health in Action, Capacity Building Report. Muslim Mind Collaborative.

Chowdhury. R., (2025). 'Insider Research into Abuse in Muslim Communities'. In: (eds) Woodhead. L., Cadman. L., & Graham. N. Messy Methods in Researching Religion. Oxford University Press.

Chowdhury. R., & Hannan. R., (2025) 'Developments in the field of understanding Spiritual Abuse within Muslim Contexts'. In: Stiebert. J. (ed.) Abuse in World Religions. Routledge.

Chowdhury. R., & Hannan. R., (2025) 'Activism in the field of Addressing Spiritual Abuse within Muslim Contexts'. In: Stiebert. J. (ed.) Abuse in World Religions. Routledge.

Mulla, F., & Chowdhury, R. (2024). 'Surviving Sexual Abuse Cloaked in Spiritual Abuse'. In: (eds.) Winder, B. et al. Sexual Crime: Victims and Survivors. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Adam, M., Chowdhury, R., Adnan-Shaukat, M. & Mulla, F. (2024) Sacred Trust, Silent Wounds: An Exploration of the Experiences and Understanding of Abuse in Scottish Muslim Communities. Sacred (Body:Mind:Space).

Chowdhury, R., (2023). The Role of Religion in Domestic Violence and Abuse in UK Muslim Communities. Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 12 (2), rwad008.

The Lantern Initiative CIC, Civil Society Consulting CIC, Shaikh, A., Chowdhury, R., (2021). Muslim Mental Health Matters: Understanding barriers to accessing mental health support services and gaps in provision for the UK Muslim community. The Lantern Initiative, Peterborough, UK.

Chowdhury, R., Winder, B., Blagden, N., Mulla, F., (2021). ‘I thought in order to get to God I had to win their approval’: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of Muslim victims abused by religious authority figures'. Journal of Sexual Aggression, (28)2,196-217.

Keenan, M. and Page, S. (2025). 'Exploring Religion and Sexuality using an Online Questionnaire'.  In: Woodhead, L., Cadman, L. and Graham, N. (eds.) Messy Methods: Researching Religion in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Keenan, M. (2021). '“I’m not really sure why I took that!”: Exploring the forms of diarying present in the participant-generated photo-elicitation method'. In: Henderson, E. and Cao, X. (eds.) Exploring Diary Method in Higher Education Research. Routledge.

Keenan, M. (2016). 'Conditional Love? Assimilation and the Construction of ‘Acceptable Homosexuality’ in Anglicanism'. In: A. Day (ed.) Contemporary Issues in the Worldwide Anglican Communion. Farnham: Ashgate.

Keenan, M. (2015). 'Balancing faith and desire: reflections on the inter-connection of Christianity, sexuality and identity'. In: S. Hunt (ed.), Handbook of global contemporary Christianity. Leiden: Brill.

Kemp, L. (2025). The Moral Theology of the Devil / Clothed with the Sun. Leafe Press.

Kemp, L. (2024). Annunciation Sonnets. Broken Sleep Books.

Wilde, D. J., Murray, J., Doherty, P., & Murray, C. D. (2019). Mental health and mediumship: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 22(3), 261-278.