KLC seeks to nurture and practice quality Christian scholarship across the academic disciplines oriented toward the question how then shall we live? One of the ways in which we do this is through research hubs that each deal with particular areas of study. Below you can find information on the research hubs currently meeting, as well as news regarding research hubs that are in the pipeline.
This exciting hub is a group of predominantly black South African writers. At present they are exploring the possibility of publishing a book called Black and Evangelical. This hub meets four times per year and if possible once face to face in order to help one another to develop as authors, to sharpen one another through constructive dialogue, to read papers to one another, etc.
Hub Chair: Dr. Vuyani Sindo.
To indicate your interest in the Hub or to ask questions, please contact istine@kirbylaingcentre.co.uk.
KLC is in the process of taking over artway.eu and developing a new website for it. The initiative for developing an arts hub accompanies this exciting development. The Arts Hub meets once a month apart from July and December.
Chairs: Otto Bam and Laurel Weeks
Contact: otto@kirbylaingcentre.co.uk
The Cambridge Christian Educationalist Network is a collective of European researchers and practitioners in education. Our programs offer a space and resources to address contemporary educational opportunities and challenges, within the context of faith. In this academic year (2023-2024) we continue our series of online conversations, in which we reflect on several pressing topics in education through the lens of a Christian viewpoint. We were delighted to have Dr David I. Smith to start the series, wherein he formulated A Christian Response to Technology in the Classroom. We plan to organise three online conversations over the course of the academic year. Please subscribe to our newsletter via our website (https://www.
Chairs: Rebekka Hahn (University of Bielefeld) and Naomi van Rijn (University of Cambridge)
Contact: contact form on website
Our membership includes investment practitioners in the fields of public investing, private investing, wealth advice, and wealth management, as well as those involved in academic work in business, finance, and practical theology in such areas.
The Capital Stewardship Hub currently meets monthly over Zoom.
Hub facilitator: Jason Myhre, Executive Director of the Eventide Center for Faith & Investing.
For inquiries, contact Jason Myhre at jason@faithandinvesting.com
The KLC Economics Research Hub seeks to generate rigorous scholarship at the intersection of economics and theology with both contemporary application and Christian perspective. Hub members are committed to actively generating such scholarship. To facilitate this scholarship, the Hub provides opportunities for community, collaboration, and support among its members.
The Economics Research Hub meets about six times a year, five of which via Zoom. The sixth meeting will be in person and will likely coincide with the annual meeting of the Association for Christian Economics UK, often in Cambridge in early July. The meetings provide opportunities for members not only to share research with each other to gather feedback, but also to read and discuss works relevant to the members’ scholarship.
You can see the first Zoom gathering of KLC’s Economics Research Hub in 2022, in partnership with the Association for Christian Economics UK, discussing the topic of The Theology and Economics of the Minimum Wage.
Hub Chair: Dr. Robert C. Tatum, Cary Caperton Owen Distinguished Professor in Economics, University of North Carolina Asheville (USA).
For inquiries contact Dr. Tatum at rtatum@unca.edu.
Information to follow soon.
The KLC International Relations Research Hub seeks to deepen the understanding of and expand the imagination of members about the connection between theology and international relations, especially with respect to matters of war and peace, order in international politics, and foreign policy. The hub pursues this goal through discussions of readings that address these topics and by offering a forum for hub members to get feedback from others on their own scholarly work seeking to develop a Christian perspective on international relations. The group also seeks to offer support to and Christian community for its members in navigating not only their scholarship but life in the academy generally.
The hub meets five times a year over zoom and aims to meet occasionally in person around professional conferences.
Please, send all inquiries about the hub to admin@kirbylaingcentre.co.uk.
The KLC Mathematics Research Hub will be established to form a distinctive Christian research group in mathematics and physics which is rooted in spirituality for the glory of God and the flourishing of the Church and the world.
We thus seek committed Christian academics with expertise in mathematics and physics — or a related field — that are eager to engage in cutting edge research with an emphasis on creatively exploring foundational problems in physics and mathematics. The study of the interface between mathematics and theology will also be strongly encouraged and pursued.
The KLC Mathematics Research Hub aims to be a leading European research unit that will facilitate high impact research in mathematics and physics. We want to create the space and be a resource for the members to establish themselves as world class researchers.
In order to keep the research objectives of the group focused we will limit the group size to 4-6 members for the first year or two. Meetings will take place once a month to start.
Various books and articles will be used as a foundation for the discussions with the aim to establish a joint research program. Each member should also develop and pursue his own research and feed back into the group through presentations, ideas and general input. It is, however, acceptable if some members of the group choose to focus on the plenum project rather than individual projects if other commitments prevent research time.
KLC provides an avenue to host lecture series and receive external input from esteemed scholars around the world on topics of interest. Presenting research at conferences and Universities will be encouraged and facilitated. The submission of external funding proposals will be a major objective once the group has produced some outcome.
The members will become fellows/associate fellows of the Kirby Laing Centre and encouraged to take part in the wider discussion going on at the Centre. Many sessions and reading groups are available for formation both spiritually and professionally. As a fellow of KLC one will enjoy interaction with world class academics in various disciplines, great books readily available for use from the KLC library and spiritually formative discussions and relationships. Its location in close proximity to both the University of Cambridge and Tyndale House gives opportunity for visibility, collaborations and networking among the world’s top researchers and academics.
Academics with expertise in one or more of the following subjects are especially encouraged to apply: cosmology, astrophysics, mathematical relativity, topology, differential geometry, category theory and logic.
Interested applicants should send CV, cover letter and a short research summary to mikael.normann@usn.no.
Lesslie Newbigin posed this question in his 1984 Warfield Lectures, “What would be involved in a genuinely missionary encounter between the gospel and this whole way of perceiving, thinking, and living that we call ‘modern Western culture?” (Foolishness to the Greeks, 1) We seek to engage Newbigin’s questions for our shared mission fields in the US and Canada.
Chair: Dr Cas Monaco
Contact: cas.monaco@familylife.com
The KLC hub dedicated to clarifying the meaning of “public theology.”
The Kirby Laing Centre has given as its title the designation “for public theology.” As the term in current thinking has received a number of interpretations, it is incumbent on the Centre to explain its own understanding of the significance of the phrase. The Centre is, therefore, convening a hub as a focal point for considering its own particular description of what is intended by the expression.
People who are expressly interested in engaging in a discussion of this concept are warmly invited to join the hub and contribute to the forum’s reflection. The main aim of the hub initially is to produce a handbook whose intent is to produce a well-rounded introduction to the theme. A publisher has already shown interest in such a work. The objective is to finalise the proposal by the end of June 2024.
Dr. Andrew Kirk, one of the Centre’s trustees, will be the convenor of this hub. As a first step, he will produce a preliminary draft of the issues to be considered in such a handbook. The work of the hub is to add, subtract and refine the subject-matter and to construct a design that fulfils the requirement of being a text-book.
KLC requests people who would like to join this hub to make themselves known by writing to the Centre, giving an indication of why they would be interested and any previous engagement they have had with the topic. To facilitate the discussion in the best way possible, the hub will be limited to a maximum of 12 participants.
Chair: Andrew Kirk
Contact: andrew@kirks.org.uk
The 21st century has been marked by the ecological crisis and the question of human flourishing in a brave new world. The issue of sustainable development dominates the political, social, economic and technological agendas. If we believe that the Gospel is an all-encompassing message of reconciliation and renewal of all things in Christ, how should we engage critical issues such as biodiversity loss, climate change, climate justice, resilience, biotechnologies, food security, clean energy, fair trade, pollution and waste disposal?
This hub has two main goals:
These are the foundational elements to the concept of sustainability.
To this end, we will engage the Scriptures and the ecotheological traditions which have emerged out of a green hermeneutic. We will consider Christian as well as Jewish green readings of the Bible. We will also maintain an interdisciplinary approach which highlights the importance of the interrelationships between theology, philosophy and the special sciences for the understanding of the world and of ourselves. The insights so gained should equip us to discern the best courses of action which can be translated into sustainable policies and ultimately as sustainable ways of living.
Procedure:
We will meet Saturdays from 19:00 to 20:30 CET every three months. Our first meeting will take place 23 July 2022. We will always engage a text which all participants should read in advance. We will start with a short introductory presentation to the topic of 20 minutes followed by a discussion.
To indicate your interest in the Hub or to ask questions, please contact Dr Victor Morales at explorador70@gmail.com.
The KLC Technology Research Hub wishes to explore the implications of the Christian faith in the area of technology, exploring issues and challenges related to the ways Christians can faithfully exercise responsibility in this important cultural arena.
The Tech hub is currently not open for membership applications.
Hub Chairs: Dr. Joshua K. Smith and Dr. Derek Schuurman.
For any inquiries contact either josh@joshuaksmith.org or ds33@calvin.edu.
The Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge. Charity registered in England and Wales. Charity Number: 1191741
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