35 Years of the
Community Religions Project:
Revisiting the Archives
Jo Merrygold
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Jo_Merrygold
Supervisor: Dr Mel Prideaux
The Community Religions Project
Religion & religions in
contemporary Leeds
• ‘Conventional religion & common religion’ Knott 1984: 6
• ‘Media portrayals of religion & their reception’ Knott 1984: 6
• Religion, location, & space
• Mapping religion in specific localities
Designing my own project
• Identification of areas previously not explored
• Links to recent undergraduate research
• Opportunity to link my area of interest with CRP research
• Pushing myself to research outside my area of comfort
Identifying key themes
• Recording changing religious practice and attitudes in a fixed geographic area
• Use of fieldwork and ethnographic research methods
• Developing new multi-disciplinary approaches in Religious Studies
The Bible in Leeds City Centre
• Uses pre-existing boundaries
• Complementary to 2011/12 mapping of religious locations
• Excludes health and education sites
• Includes various categories of venues & unique locations
Ethnographic research into the context and significance of bibles in public and semi-public spaces in Leeds City Centre
Non-religious public & semi-
public spaces
Retailers
Research process
Research methods
Observations through
walking round the entire
street network
Interviews with staff from
selected locations
Questionnaires distributed to
hotels
Observations within public spaces e.g. in bookshops,
library
Emails and letters to
Bible distributors &
holders
Fieldwork visits & discussions
with staff
Common Themes
• Bible can be found across Leeds city centre
• But… are less prevalent than anticipated
• Expectation of their presence or absence affects their availability and use
• Social divisions and cultural classifications affect how the Bible is engaged with and understood
Identifying new questions • Who can, and does, access the Bibles in Leeds?
• Are Bibles more or less available than in the past?
• Are Bibles always religious artefacts?
• What is the link between presence of bibles and their usage?
• Does the location of a Bible constrain its use?
• Can Bibles signify religiosity?
• Is there an impact from other religions or religious texts?
• Is this specific to Leeds?
Context-specific findings
Retailers
Future research opportunities
Investigation of the use of bibles as:
• Cultural or civic objects
• Historical artefacts
• Symbols of power & authority
• Signifiers of oaths
• Comforters when away from home
• Talismans for travel
• Books – no different from any other
Research Outcomes
• Co-authored paper and journal article
• Article to be published by the CRP in 2014
• Presentations at UGRE in 2013 and 2014, including using Bettakultcha & Prezi
• Poster Presentation
• Understanding of research ethics
Bibliography
Bangay, E. et al. 2012. The Religious Mapping of Leeds City Centre 2011/12. [online]. Leeds: University of Leeds, Department of Theology and Religious Studies. Available from: http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/crp/files/2013/01/Religious-Mapping-of-Leeds-City-Centre.pdf Knott, K. 2011. Spatial Methods. In: M. Stausberg, & S. Engler, eds. The Routledge handbook of research methods in the study of religion. London; New York: Routledge, pp. 491-501 Knott, K. 1984. 'Community religions' at the University of Leeds. Community Religions Project Research Papers (New Series) 1. Leeds: University of Leeds, Department of Theology and Religious Studies. University of Leeds. 2014. Community Religions Project. [online]. Available from: http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/crp/