Research Postgraduate students

Matthew Francis

PhD student

PhD Title - Mapping the sacred: understanding the move to violence in religious and non religious groups

Matthew is an AHRC-funded Doctoral Researcher whose thesis addresses the move to violence in the beliefs of groups. Developing a new methodological tool for mapping the changing contours in non-negotiable beliefs, he has presented findings to major conferences in the UK and abroad.

He has previously worked on reports for the UK government on a faiths consultation on restorative justice (with Kim Knott) and a review of arts and humanities literature on terrorism (with Kim Knott, Seán McLoughlin and Alistair McFadyen). He currently works as the editor for RadicalisationResearch.org, an AHRC/ESRC funded website which provides a resource for policy-makers and the media on radicalisation and extremism.

Matthew is the Postgraduate Officer for the Sociology of Religion study group (SocRel) of the British Sociological Association (BSA) and is co-organising the SocRel stream at the annual BSA conference, to be held at Leeds in 2012. He has taught on undergraduate and postgraduate modules in the department, including Sociology of Religion, Religion in Modern Britain and Key Texts.

Matthew graduated from Leeds in 2003 with a joint-honours degree in Philosophy and Theology and Religious Studies. He subsequently undertook a Masters by Research (2004), also in the department, where he examined the ideas of Georges Bataille in relation to the problem of meaning in death in contemporary society. He came to university via a career at Centrica and has previously worked as a researcher and consultant for a number of local authorities and charitable bodies. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

Research interests

Religion and violence; the sacred; the religious and secular in contemporary society

Links

Website:        www.mat-francis.org

Email:             m.francis@leeds.ac.uk

Supervisors

Professor Kim Knott and Professor Philip Mellor