PhD students - Simon Staffell

Details

Thesis Title: Religious discourses and violent outcomes in foreign policy and non-state terrorism

Year: 1

Supervisor

Brief Description of Research Topic:

'Research considers the role of religious language and ideas in politicalviolence. The central PhD case study is the Iraq insurgency in 2004-5. It focuses on the discourses of the United States government and of two non-state terrorist groups operating in Iraq. The role of religious discourse in shaping the outcomes of the fight by states against non-state terrorism is considered.'

Published Work:

"The Mappe and the Bible: Nation, Empire and the Collective Memory of Jonah” Biblical Interpretation 16 (2008)
Review of David L. Barr (ed.), The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006) in The Bible and Critical Theory 4 (3), 2008.
Review of Bruce Lincoln, Religion, Empire and Torture: the Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a Postscript on Abu Ghraib (Chicago and London: the University of Chicago Press, 2007) in the Bible and Critical Theory, Volume 5, Number 1, 2009 Monash University Press.
Talking with a Region: Lessons from Iran, Turkey and Pakistan (with Mahjoob Zweiri), Middle East Policy Vol 16. No. 1 pp. 63-74.(2009)

Teaching:

POL109 Comparing Modern Polities
Course Leader of Religious/Islamic Studies at Longley Park College, Sheffield

Professional Affiliations:

Qualified Teacher (PGCE) and member of the General Teaching Council.

Other Work:

Examiner for A-level Philosophy of Religion
2008, Conducted foreign policy research at the Center for Stategic Studies, University of Amman, Jordan.
2008, Completed course on Leadership in Conflict Resolution at the United Nations University, Amman.