35 Years of the

Community Religions Project:

Revisiting the Archives

Jo Merrygold

Email: tr11jm@leeds.ac.uk 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/