Emerging Research

A Community Theology of Lay Ministry

2021 – ongoing

An emerging project exploring a positive, distinctive theology of lay ministry grounded in community praxis.

Further details to follow.

Doctoral Research

Thesis Title: Gender Diversity in the Ancestral Narratives: Encountering Esau & Sarah through a Hermeneutics of Cispicion
Research Themes: Hebrew Bible, Genesis, queer theory, trans theory, Bible in contemporary society, LGBT+ studies

Jo’s PhD was AHRC funded through WRoCAH, and her project uses and adapts queer theory and gender studies in order to propose new hermeneutics for reading biblical narratives against an assumption that all characters are cisgender. That means the character is understood to have been only and always a single and fixed gender from their birth; it is the antonym of transgender (hereafter trans). Jo outlines the need for an intentional focus on cisnormativity within biblical hermeneutics. She then propose a hermeneutics of cispicion to ensure a suspicious, critical engagement with the presence of cisnormativity in biblical interpretation. The second half of the project showcases the possibilities for cispicious interpretations of the stories of Sarai/h (Gen. 12-23), and Esau (25-36). These case studies focus on different facets of gender experience through interrogation of language, bodies, social roles, sense of identity, behaviour and performance. Each presents possibilities for identifying gender diverse characters that offers points of resonance for today’s readers. It is a timely project and one that speaks to the continuing significance of the Bible in contemporary discourses of gender while offering an alternative strategy for interpretation.

She was supervised by Casey Strine.

Earlier Projects

Jo has co-created her own fixed-term research project, and worked on several established research projects:

Hidden Perspectives: Bringing the Bible out of the closet

Co-director, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom – 2015 to 2021

Alongside Minna Shkul, Jo co-directed Hidden Perspectives at the University of Sheffield. Established in 2013 by Katie Edwards, this is an engaging creative project which offers creative engagements with unrepresented perspectives in the study of religion. It particularly offers a space for LGBT+ interactions with the Bible and religion, and has a well-established partnership with the award winning and highly acclaimed interdisciplinary LGBT+ Studies module at the University of Sheffield.

Hidden Perspectives presents…, showcases research from across the world, and the annual World Aids Day talk in early December which interrogates HIV/Aids and religion. Various events are frequently hosted as part of LGBT History month in February, including through the related Orange is the New Bible project (see below). Jo has also hosted MA student interns and a Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience, whose projects and research relate to the aims of Hidden Perspectives. In 2014, Hidden Perspectives hosted the Garden of Eden: Biblical Burlesque night in the heart of Sheffield city centre. We have collaborated with LaDIYfestSheffield, Arts Enterprise, the Sheena Amos Youth Trust to run the Hidden Perspectives Festival in 2013.

Inclusive Curriculum Project

Project Assistant, University of Sheffield, 2019.

In an initiative designed and overseen by Senate Fellows, the Inclusive Curriculum Project developed a self-assessment tool ‘that empowers academic staff to think about inclusivity and diversity in their teaching’. As project assistant, Jo designed and piloted the initial toolkit with colleagues from across the University of Sheffield. Throughout the project she worked closely with staff from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department for Lifelong Learning, and Academic Programmes and Student Engagement teams, especially the Widening Participation Research and Evaluation Unit.

The tool was designed to:

enable staff to reflect on their teaching practice and the learning resources they provide for students with a diversity of learning needs
enable staff to identify key areas that they need to change in their teaching practice in order to better support students with a diversity of learning needs
signpost resources that help staff enact change.

The toolkit was launched as part of the Elevate Learning and Teaching Essential Resources for Inclusivity in December 2019.

Life Worth Living

Postgraduate Curriculum Developer and Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Sheffield, 2018-19. Project leads: Casey Strine and Joshua Forstenzer

Life Worth Living is a module designed to help students explore key questions about what it means for a life to go well? The module engages with

What would it look like for a live to be lived well? In short, what shape would a life worth living take? We will explore these questions through engagement with the lives and visions of founding figures from six diverse traditions that imagine a good life: Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, and the work of Karl Marx. The module will feature lectures on the various traditions, seminars on their central texts, and visits from contemporary individuals who understand their lives to be shaped by the traditions in question. Module assessments are designed to help students develop their own vision of a life worth living.

Working with Robin Hamon, Casey Strine and Joshua Forstenzer they built a successful collaboration with a local community creative writing group. Hosted by Timebuilders, a Sheffield-based social enterprise, Robin and Jo established a relationship with members of a creative writing group with whom the module students explored themes from the Life Worth Living Curriculum. They faciliated sessions where the students led activities and guided discussion to enable an education and knowledge exchange between members of the creative writing group and those from the university. This then contributed to their module-wide learning outcomes and contributed to their summative assessments.

This module is based upon the Yale University course Life Worth Living. Our involvement was supported by Yale University as part of an ongoing partnership with Casey Strine and Joshua Forstenzer at the University of Sheffield.

Hidden Perspectives: Bringing the Arts and Humanities out of the Closet

Visiting researcher, University of Auckland, New Zealand – 2017. Project lead: Caroline Blyth

A sibling project to Sheffield’s similarly named project, Hidden Perspectives (NZ) was launched in March 2017 as a community and network for Rainbow/LGBT+ students. Part of Faculty of Arts, this equity initiative is designed to provide a safe and welcoming space for staff and students at the University of Auckland. It integrates social activities and research events as well as joint film nights with the Gender Studies centre. During February and March 2017 Jo worked as a visiting researcher with Caroline Blyth and Chip Matthews, who lead the project in Auckland. Between January and May Jo also supervised two student interns who were creating and launching the website and social media for Hidden Perspectives.

Jo’s role included working with students in Auckland and Sheffield to support and nurture the group. She attended Auckland Pride, representing the University of Auckland alongside other staff and students, facilitated events, and networked with local stakeholders. She was also able to share her research, and the importance of Hidden Perspectives projects with community partners at presentations in the city and at the University.

Orange is the New Bible

Co-director, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom – 2015 to 2017

Jo co-founded the Orange is the New Bible with Lu Skerratt, a masters student at King’s College London, in 2015 to explore the relationship between the hit Netflix show Orange is the New Black and the Bible in contemporary society. The show offered possibilities for exploring themes including rape and gender violence, transgender theology, the politics of hair, engineering religion, and ritual purity – amongst other themes. Jo and Lu, along with support from Charity Hamilton, a University of Leeds PhD student, hosted a research symposium in February 2016, as part of the University of Sheffield’s activities for LGBT History Month. The project was supported by Hidden Perspectives, and the symposium was generously financed by WRoCAH and the Arts and Humanities Postgraduate Forum at the University of Sheffield. It received very positive feedback and drew participants from many academic fields and levels, as well as charity workers, campaigners and other interested parties. The event raised a sizeable donation for a local charity, the Together Women Project, who work with women affected by incarceration.

Following the symposium, Orange is the New Bible focused on advocacy, awareness-raising and public scholarship. The project concluded in summer 2017, with several strands of the project becoming integrated into Hidden Perspectives and The Shiloh Project, a new collaboration between the universities of Leeds, Sheffield and Auckland which focuses on gender violence and rape culture.

Community Religions Project

Digital Series Editor (2014 to 2017), Project Assistant (2014 to 2015), and Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholar (2012 to 2014), University of Leeds, United Kingdom – 2012 to 2017. Project lead: Mel Prideaux

Initially starting out in the project as part of her Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholarship, Jo’s first job was to catalogue and curate an archive in collaboration with community stakeholders, many of whom had articles and photographs in the repository. Since its inception in the 1970s, the Community Religions Project (CRP) has recorded and researched religions as practiced in Leeds, with particular interest in diasporic religious practices and the way religious develop within specific geographic areas. As part of developing the archive, Jo designed and launched the CRP website in 2012, integrating a digital archive, before working to digitise the project’s monograph series – a task completed in 2017.

There were two further key aspects to Jo’s project: she undertook her own research into religion in Leeds, for which she was awarded the RSA/Edward Boyle Prize for outstanding achievements in undergraduate research. As a research assistant, Jo analysed changes within the field of religious studies as evidenced in the monographs and identified developments in methodology and the understanding of the role of the researcher. This work was developed into a conference paper (at the Critical Approaches to Religious Diversity Workshop, Aarhus University, Denmark, 24 May 2013), and journal article (2014) by Mel Prideaux with Jo’s assistance. Jo then designed and undertook her own project exploring the interrelationship between the Bible and religion in Leeds city centre: her research identified interesting correlations between the location and role of the Bible and broader trends in public and private religion in contemporary society. The initial conclusions were presented at the British Conference of Undergraduate Research and a piece of public scholarship was published by invitation in 2014. The outcomes of this research are being developed into a co-authored journal article, anticipated for publication in 2018.

Finally, Jo worked closely with Mel Prideaux on the production and development of pedagogical resources focusing on the impact of studying religions in their localities, and on the value of nurturing students as experts. CRP resources designed by Mel and Jo were presented at the British Academy for the Study of Religion (BASR) conference (2014), and at Student Education Conferences (2014, 2015) at the University of Leeds.

British Experiences of the Hajj Project

Website & Exhibition Intern, University of Leeds, United Kingdom – 2013 to 2015. Project lead: Seán McLoughlin

This AHRC and British Academy funded project explores the experiences of British Hajjis, and culminated in an exhibition at the British Museum. Following the initial success and interest in the project, Seán McLoughlin focused on developing resources to make communicate his work to different audiences including community, academic, and industrial partners and groups. Jo was recruited to create a dedicated website to showcase his research. In 2014, Seán and Jo (as a graduate intern) collaborated with Tim Waters, a freelance geospatial designer and developer, as part of the Leeds Creative Labs scheme organised by the Creative and Cultural Industries Exchange. The scheme is described as:

Through Leeds Creative Labs, we aim to spark collaborations that inspire and challenge artists and researchers to explore, innovate and take risks to find new ways of working together.

This ground-breaking programme pairs creative professionals with researchers from the University. Through Leeds Creative Labs, we provide funding, inspiration, opportunities and above all, the co-creative space to share ideas and experiences without deadlines and targets.

The collaboration focused on how best to exhibit the resources in a creative and accessible way, and led to the launch of the exhibition website in late 2014.