SOAS Appoints New Dean of Arts and Humanities
Professor Gurharpal Singh
30 June 2011
Professor Gurharpal Singh has been appointed the new Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He will take up the position on 1 September 2011 when the current Dean, Professor Ian Brown, steps down.
Professor Singh is a political scientist working on religion and politics with special reference to religious nationalism and ethnic conflict in South Asia, religion and development in Asia and Africa and the problems of managing religious and ethnic diversity in developed societies.
His expertise is in religion and contemporary public policy both in South Asia and the United Kingdom. He has published widely on the partition of India, religious and ethnic conflict in South Asia, political corruption, and the Indian diaspora (particularly the Sikhs). He is currently writing a volume on Indian democracy.
"I am delighted to be joining the Faculty of Arts and Humanities," said Professor Singh. "I have had a long association with colleagues at the School and look forward to new research initiatives within the Faculty and the School. Area studies, in particular Arts and Humanities, face challenging times ahead. However, I believe SOAS has many strengths to be proud of and can rise to these challenges to emerge as a stronger institution."
Professor Singh has held academic posts at Birkbeck College, De Montfort University and the University of Hull, where he was the C.R. Parekh Chair of Indian Politics. In 2002 he joined the University of Birmingham, where he was the Nadir Dinshaw Professor of Inter-Religious Relations and Deputy Director of the Religions and Development Research Programme (DFID).
“Gurharpal will be an excellent addition to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, " said SOAS Director Professor Paul Webley. "His wealth of experience and the range of his expertise is a natural fit for SOAS, and he will further strengthen our reputation as the premier institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
Professor Singh is one of the editors of the journal Sikh Formation: Religion, Culture, Theory (Routledge) and was the founding editor of The International Journal of Punjab Studies (Sage). He has a strong interest in Sikh Studies and the management of religious diversity in the West.
For further information, contact:
William Friar
Communications Officer
+44 (0)20 7898 4135
w.friar@soas.ac.uk
