Centre for the Study of World Christianity

The Centre for the Study of World Christianity (formerly known as the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World) is the primary post-graduate focus of the School of Divinity's keen interest in the history and contemporary reality of Christianity as a world religion. The Centre exists to advance high-quality scholarship, through interdisciplinary research, teaching and publication, in Christianity as a polycentric faith whose adherents are now far more numerous in the majority world than in Europe or North America. 

Areas of Research and Teaching

The Centre seeks to make a distinctive contribution to scholarly knowledge in all areas of the study of world Christianity, and in the following fields in particular:

• Tracing the complex historical trajectories and socio-cultural processes which have led to the current reality of Christianity as a majority-world religion
• Analyzing and interpreting the past patterns and contemporary processes of theological contextualisation and construction employed by Christians in and from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific in the appropriation and re-shaping of the faith in diverse socio-political and religious contexts
• Exploring the significance for contemporary religion and society of the current global diaspora of African and Asian Christianities.

Teaching Programmes

The Centre offers both a taught and a research MTh/MSc in Non-Western Christianity.  The taught MTh/MSc course involves a core course, three optional courses, and a dissertation.  It extends over twelve months on a full-time basis, or 24 months for part-time students.   The MTh/MSc by research is geared more directly towards preparation for PhD work in world Christianity, and involves writing a longer dissertation.  The Centre runs a weekly postgraduate seminar in world Christianity which is open to all the Schools students.

Teaching Staff

The Centres staff, Professor Brian Stanley (Director), Dr Elizabeth Koepping (Associate Director), and Dr Afe Adogame, teach and direct the MTh courses and supervise PhD or MPhil research in world Christianity.  Between them they offer a rich variety of disciplinary approaches to the study of world Christianity.  In addition, there is a wide expertise within the teaching staff of the School of Divinity on which the Centre can call.

Student Body

The student body of the School is an international one, particularly at postgraduate level, and covers a rich diversity of backgrounds and Christian traditions.  Recently completed PhD theses in the Centre have covered such topics as:

• 'Word Made Global: African Christianity in New York City'
• 'Korean Bible Women: their vital contribution to Korean Protestantism, 1895-1945'
• 'Missionary Kingdoms of the South Pacific?  The involvement of missionaries from the London Missionary Society in law making at Tahiti, 1795-1847'
• 'The rise and face of neopentecostalism: a descriptive and comparative assessment of new independent Charismatic/Pentecostal Churches in Latin America'.

Scholarships

The Centre's students are eligible for the full range of scholarships available on a competitive basis to postgraduate students in the School of Divinity.  In any one year, the School awards up to ten scholarships for Masters students and as many as ten scholarships for PhD students.  In addition, the Miller Trust administered by the School makes awards to one or two applicants from the majority world, usually in the form of a partial award to help to fund a year of Masters study.

Research Resources

The Centre has its own research library of historic books and pamphlets on world Christianity.  In addition, the Centre holds a unique and extensive archive of special collections in the history of world Christianity and the missionary movement.  The collections include the archives of Action Partners (formerly the Sudan United Mission), Latin Link (formerly the Evangelical Union of South America), and the Regions Beyond Missionary Union.  There are also extensive runs of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mission periodicals.  Together with the rich holdings of New College Library (comprising some 250,000 volumes), the main University Library in George Square, and the nearby National Library of Scotland, the Centre offers outstanding resources to research students and visiting scholars.  The Centre's archives are not yet catalogued, and scholars or visiting students wishing to access the special collections or the Centre library are requested to make an appointment in advance with the Director.

Related Bodies

Governance

The Centre's activities are overseen by a School-appointed Advisory Committee which includes academic representatives of the School of Divinity and other Schools in the University, and an elected student member.