Academic & Teaching staff

Dr Jonathan Sutton

Senior Lecturer

0113 343 3293

Research

I've been lecturing in Russian Studies since 1996. Before this I held a Research Fellowship in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies here at Leeds (1993-1996) and carried out a research project on religious education after the fall of communism (see my Publications for 1996).  I've also taught Russian language and literature in secondary schools (seven years) and worked for non-governmental organizations (four years).

I first had the chance to study Russian when at school: I found Russian literature very absorbing, especially, at that time, the poetry of Lermontov and the plays of Chekhov, and went on to take a degree in Russian at the University of Durham. There the study of Dostoevsky provided an excellent preparation for working, as a Ph.D. student, on the nineteenth-century philosopher Vladimir Solovyov. My long-standing interest in Russia's philosophical tradition extends to traditions of spirituality and monasticism in Russia and, increasingly, to the renewal of concern with that whole religious and cultural heritage among Russians in the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods.

I teach introductory modules on religion in twentieth century Russia, a very popular and topical module on the relations between Orthodox Christianity and Islam and a new, inter-disciplinary module for final-year undergraduates on 'Literature, Religion and Enquiries into Value'.  I have a keen interest in the place of religion in present-day Russia and central Europe and I supervise doctoral students in this field.  Enquiries about postgraduate studies relating to religion, Russia and Central Europe are very welcome.

The University of Leeds stands out as the one British university where it's possible to study religion in Russia and Central Europe to an advanced level. We have established Joint Honours B.A. programmes for the study of Theology and Religious Studies with Russian   

My chief leisure activity is listening to music, all the way from Buxtehude to Bjork, taking in Leonard Cohen and P.J. Harvey as well.

Publications

Recent articles and book chapters

  • ' "Minimal Religion" and Mikhail Epstein's Interpretation of Religion in Late-Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia', in Studies in East European Thought, vol. 58, no. 2 (June 2006), pp. 107-135.
  • 'A "Religious Intelligentisa" in Present-Day Russia ? Towards Responsibility and Engaged Reflection', a chapter in Words, deeds and Values: The Intelligentsias in Russia and Poland during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, edited by Fiona Bjorling and Alexander Pereswetoff-Morath, (Lund, Slavica Lundensia Seres, No. 22), pp. 369-376.
  • 'Civil Society, Religion and the Nation: Reflections on the Russian Case', a chapter in Modernization in Intercultural Context: Russia, Japan, Turkey, edited by Gerrit Steunebrink and Evert van der Zweerde (New York and Amsterdam, Rodopi, 2004), pp. 51-71.

Books

  • Traditions in New Freedom: Christianity and Higher Education in Russia and Ukraine Today (Nottingham: Bramcote Press, 1996).

  • The Religious Philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov: Towards a Reassessment  (Basingstoke, New York: Macmillan Press / St Martin's Press, 1988)

Dr Sutton has recently had his work on Vladimir Solovyov published in Russian

International conferences organised

  • 2004   'Aesthetics as a Religious Factor in Eastern and Western Christianity', (jointly with the Theology Faculty, Utrecht University), Soesterberg, Netherlands, June 2004. Conference proceedings, 27 papers, published by Peeters, Leuwen, 2005, 'Eastern Christian Studies' Series No.6), edited by Jonathan Sutton and Wil van den Bercken.
  • 2001   'Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Europe', (jointly with the Theology Faculty, Utrecht University), Leeds, June 2001. Conference proceedings, 33 papers, published by Peeters, Leuwen, 'Eastern Christian Studies' Series, No.2), edited by Jonathan Sutton and Wil van den Bercken.
  • 1998  'Roles for the Laity in Eastern and Western Christianity' (jointly with Keston Institute, Oxford), Leeds, June 1998. Eight papers published in a special issue of the journal Religion, State, and Society, vol. 27, 1999, no. 1.
  • 1994  'Conceptions of Legality and Ethics in Russian Thought', Leeds, July 1994. Seven papers from the conference were published in a special issue of the journal Studies in East European Thought,  vol. 48, September 1996.

Membership of Editorial Boards of Academic Journals

Religion, State and Society
Studies in East European Thought

Membership of Learned Societies

British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES)
Society for the Study of Theology (SST)
The Eckhart Society - Member and Trustee

Teaching

  • Russian-to-English element in the M.A. in Applied Translation Studies
  • Final-year undergraduate module 'Literature, Religion and Enquiries into Value'
  • 'Religion in Twentieth-Century Russia' 
  • 'The Encounter between Orthodox Christianity and Islam'
  • Russian-to-English translation at undergraduate level

Supervision

MA

  • 2009: "Biographical, Theological and Ecumenical Aspects of the Correspondence between Fr Alexander Men'(1935-1990) and Sister Ioanna Yu. N. Reitlinger (1898-1988)"
  • 2008: "Russia's Religious Traditions: 18th, 19th Centuries and Beyond: Paissy Velichkovsky's influence on Russian Orthodox Christianity as seen through the life and work of Starets Amvrosy (Grenkov) of Optina"

PhD

  • 2003: "The Legal Framework of Religion and the State in Bulgaria: Church-State Relations 1989-2002"