SOAS University of London

School of History, Religions and Philosophies

History, Religions and Philosophies Staff

Head of the School of History, Religions and Philosophies

Prof Ulrich Pagel

Subject Head (History)

Dr Andrea Janku

Subject Head (Religions & Philosophies)

Dr Sian Hawthorne

Learning & Teaching Coordinator

Dr Eleanor Newbigin

Research Coordinator

Dr Mark Weeden

Dr Andrea Janku
Andrea Janku

China, Social and Cultural History; The Early Press and the History of Communication; Environmental History

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4636
  • Email: aj7@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 318
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 9:30-11:30, or by email appointment
Professor Catherine Hezser
Catherine Hezser

Judaism in Hellenistic and Roman times; rabbinic literature; social history of Jews in late antiquity; American Jewish history and literature, Jewish identity, gender studies

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4633
  • Email: ch12@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 335
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursdays 11:00 - 12:00
Professor Ulrich Pagel
Head of School
Ulrich Pagel-REL IMG 485 186 56

History of Buddhism in Tibet, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Kanjur Studies, Vinaya, Religions of Central Asia, Tibetan, Sanskrit. 

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4782
  • Email: up1@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: Room 343
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 16:00- 17:00 and Tuesdays by appointment

Department of History, School of History, Religions & Philosophies

Dr James Caron
Lecturer in Islamicate South Asia
James Caron

Islam in South Asia; Afghanistan and Pakistan; Indo-Persianate sociocultural history; transnational non-Western history; activism and social movements.

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4295
  • Email: jc84@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 316
  • Academic Support Hours: Wednesdays 17:00-18:30
Professor Michael W. Charney
Professor of Asian and Military History
Mike Charney
The history of Buddhist societies in South and Southeast Asia and of culture, technology, and warfare in colonial Africa and Asia
  • Tel: 020 7898 4612
  • Email: mc62@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 322
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 17:00 -19:00
Dr Wayne Dooling
Senior Lecturer in the History of Southern Africa
Wayne Dooling
Early colonial South African history; slavery and emancipation in the Cape Colony
  • Tel: 020 7898 4628
  • Email: wd2@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 308
  • Academic Support Hours: Wednesdays 15:00 - 17:00
Dr Roy Fischel
Lecturer in the History of South Asia
UG Research/ISP Tutor (History)
Roy Fischel

History of precolonial South Asia, in particular Muslim polities and societies; the Deccan, 1300-1700; South Asia and the early modern Muslim world.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4643
  • Email: rf26@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 326
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 14:00-16:00
Dr Andrea Janku
Senior Lecturer in the History of China
Subject Head/Representative (History)
Andrea Janku

China, Social and Cultural History; The Early Press and the History of Communication; Environmental History

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4636
  • Email: aj7@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 318
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 9:30-11:30, or by email appointment
Dr Ceyda Karamursel
Lecturer in the Department of History
Ceyda Karamursel
Lecturer in the Department of History
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4602
  • Email: ck17@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 324
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 10-12, or by e-mail appointment
Dr Lars Laamann
Senior Lecturer in the History of China
Lars Laamann

Popular religions in early modern China (16th-20th cc); Christianity in china (18th-20th cc); Opium and other narcotics (18th-20th cc); Manchu history (16th-20th cc)

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4634
  • Email: ll10@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 323
  • Academic Support Hours: By email appointment (any day)
Dr Sam Mirelman
Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Sam Mirelman

Music and performance in the ancient Near East, Sumerian liturgical texts, Mesopotamian rituals, Sumerian-Akkadian language contact, Mesopotamian intellectual history

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4283
  • Email: sm106@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 302
  • Academic Support Hours: Fridays 14:00-16:00 or by appointment
Dr Eleanor Newbigin
Senior Lecturer in the History of Modern South Asia
Eleanor Newbigin

History of modern South Asia, particularly the transition to independence; gender, family and law in colonial and post-colonial India

  • Tel: 020 7898 4625
  • Email: en2@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 307
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursdays 9:00 - 10:30 and by email appointment
Dr Marie Rodet
Reader in the History of Africa
Marie Rodet

Modern West African history, especially social and gender history of Western Mali, history of West African slavery and emancipation.

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4606
  • Email: mr28@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 309
  • Academic Support Hours: On Leave Term 1 - 2019-20
Dr Ayman Shihadeh
Reader in Arabic Intellectual History
Ayman Shihadeh-IMG 485 186 56

Medieval Arabic Intellectual History; medieval Arabic philosophy; medieval Islamic theology, especially kalam; ethical theory; the Islamic manuscript tradition.

  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4343
  • Email: a.shihadeh@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 320
  • Academic Support Hours: On Research Leave 2020-21
Dr Shabnum Tejani
Senior Lecturer in the History of Modern South Asia
Shabnum Tejani

Nineteenth and twentieth century social and intellectual history, particularly of the Bombay Presidency; communalism and nationalism in India; debates around secularism and religious intolerance

  • Tel: 020 7898 4613
  • Email: st40@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 314
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 3-5pm
Dr Mark Weeden
Senior Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Mark Weeden

Hittite, Akkadian language and literature in Syria

  • Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4328
  • Email: mw41@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 304
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 11:00 0 13:00

Teaching Fellows/Graduate Teaching Assistants

Research Associates

Dr John Parker
Research Associate
John Parker
Early modern and modern West African history, especially social and political history of Ghana
Dr Yi Li
Teaching Fellow/Programme Development Manager in Online and Distance Learning
LI Yi

South East Asia and China, Colonial and Imperial History, History of Migration, Overseas Chinese Network

Postdoctoral Fellows

Emeritus Staff

Professor Ian Brown
Emeritus Professor
Ian Brown
The modern economic and political history of South East Asia; the economic impact of the inter-war depression on South East Asia
Professor Peter Robb
Emeritus Professor
Peter Robb

The history of modern South Asia; early Calcutta, c.1780-1830, Indian agrarian history, especially Bihar and Eastern India.

Department of Religions and Philosophies, School of History, Religions and Philosophies

Dr James Caron
Lecturer in Islamicate South Asia
James Caron

Islam in South Asia; Afghanistan and Pakistan; Indo-Persianate sociocultural history; transnational non-Western history; activism and social movements.

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4295
  • Email: jc84@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 316
  • Academic Support Hours: Wednesdays 17:00-18:30
Dr Lucia Dolce
Numata Reader in Japanese Buddhism
Lucia Dolce
Japanese religious history, especially the medieval period; Japanese Tantric Buddhism and the esotericisation of religious practice; Millenarian writings and prophecy; Kami-Buddhas associations
  • Tel: 020 7898 4217
  • Email: ld16@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 342
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursdays 3:00-4:00
Professor Peter Flügel
Professor in the Study of Religions and Philosophies
Peter Flügel

Jaina Studies; South Asian History & Culture; Anthropology & Sociology of Religion

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4776
  • Email: pf8@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 341
  • Academic Support Hours: By email appointment only
Dr Sian Hawthorne
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Religion and Politics
Subject Head/Representative (Religions & Philosophies)
Sian Hawthorne

Narrativity; Cultural Memory; Religion and Gender; Feminist Historiography; Postcolonial theory; Postsecularism and gender; Intellectual history in the study of religions.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4215
  • Email: sh79@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 337
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 11:00 - 13:00
Professor Catherine Hezser
Professor of Jewish Studies
Catherine Hezser

Judaism in Hellenistic and Roman times; rabbinic literature; social history of Jews in late antiquity; American Jewish history and literature, Jewish identity, gender studies

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4633
  • Email: ch12@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 335
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursdays 11:00 - 12:00
Professor Almut Hintze
Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism
Almut Hintze

Professor Hintze takes an interest in all aspects of Zoroastrianism, the religion of pre-Islamic Iran.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4598
  • Email: ah69@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 329
  • Academic Support Hours: By email appointment
Dr Elvis Imafidon
Lecturer
Elvis Imafidon

Comparative philosophy, African philosophy (esp. ethics, ontology and epistemology), African philosophy of disability, philosophy of alterity, philosophy of the body, African feminist philosophy, philosophy of music, postcolonial and decolonial philosophy.

  • Email: ei4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 338
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 12:00-14:00
Professor Ulrich Pagel
Professor, Languages and Religions of Tibet and Central Asia
UG Research/ISP Tutor (Religions & Philosophies)
Ulrich Pagel-REL IMG 485 186 56

History of Buddhism in Tibet, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Kanjur Studies, Vinaya, Religions of Central Asia, Tibetan, Sanskrit. 

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4782
  • Email: up1@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: Room 343
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 16:00- 17:00 and Tuesdays by appointment
Dr Ayman Shihadeh
Reader in Arabic Intellectual History
Ayman Shihadeh-IMG 485 186 56

Medieval Arabic Intellectual History; medieval Arabic philosophy; medieval Islamic theology, especially kalam; ethical theory; the Islamic manuscript tradition.

  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4343
  • Email: a.shihadeh@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 320
  • Academic Support Hours: On Research Leave 2020-21
Dr Sarah Stewart
Shapoorji Pallonji Senior Lecturer in Zoroastrianism
Sarah Stewart

Lecturer in Zoroastrianism, with particular reference to the living tradition in Iran and India.

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4270
  • Email: ss7@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 331
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 14:00-16:00
Dr Stefania Travagnin
Senior Teaching Fellow in Buddhist Studies and Chinese Religions
Stefania Travagnin -REL IMG 485 185 56
  • Email: st8@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 345
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursdays 15:00 - 16:00 or by appointment
Dr Mark Weeden
Senior Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Mark Weeden

Hittite, Akkadian language and literature in Syria

  • Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4328
  • Email: mw41@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 304
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 11:00 0 13:00

Teaching Fellows/Graduate Teaching Assistants

Dr Ralph Lee
Dr Ralph Lee

Orthodox Christianity, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Ethiopian thought, Ge’ez, Amharic

  • Email: rl26@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 333
  • Academic Support Hours: Monday 5-6pm and by appointment

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Dr Céline Redard
Postdoctoral Researcher in Avestan Studies
Dr Céline Redard

Zoroastrianism; Avestan; Middle Persian (Pahlavi)

  • Email: cr45@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 334
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesday 10-12 or by appointment

Research Associates

Professor Jonardon Ganeri FBA
Professorial Research Associate
Jonardon Ganeri

Cosmopolitan philosophy and cultural cognition; polycentric modernities in Asia and Europe; philosophy in Sanskrit, especially philosophy of mind

Professor John Healey
Professorial Research Associate
John Healey

Syriac-speaking Christianity, especially its earlier history and its emergence from the Aramaic-speaking environment of the Roman/Byzantine Near East; the development of the Syriac scripts and language; early contacts between Syriac Christians and Muslims; other religious minorities in the Middle East (Jews, Mandaeans, Gnostics); the present situation of the Middle East Christians; Syriac liturgy. In addition, Professor Healey has worked extensively in the early alphabet, Hebrew Bible, Nabataea and Palmyra.

Dr Antonello Palumbo
Research Associate
Staff Silhouette

Ideological history of pre-modern China; Chinese religions, notably Taoism and Buddhism; history of the Buddhist canon in China; Manichaeism and Iranian influences in medieval China; Chinese cultural relations with Central Asia

Professor D Seyfort Ruegg
Professorial Research Associate
D Seyfort Ruegg

The philosophy of the buddha-nature (tathagatagarbha) and the philosophy of the middle way

Emeritus Staff

Professor Paul Gifford
Emeritus Professor
Paul Gifford
Christianity; recent developments in African Christianity; the socio-political role of religion in Africa Socio-political role of Christianity in Africa; Africa's new charismatic churches
Dr Tadeusz Skorupski
Emeritus Reader
Tadeusz Skorupski
Buddhist Studies; philosophical and religious doctrines; literature; iconography Buddhist iconography; Buddhist rituals; Buddhist doctrines; Buddhist history
Professor Cosimo Zene
Professor in the Study of Religions and World Philosophies
Cosimo Zene

Anthropology of religion, theory in the study of religions, continental philosophy, Gramsci and religion, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, minorities (Dalits), mysticism and heresy, non-Western Christianities, Mediterranean anthropology; South-Asia (India, Bangladesh), Sardinia, world philosophies.

Administrative Staff