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Professor Gary R. Bunt BA (Hons) Kent, MA (Durham), PhD (Wales), SFHEA

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Professor of Islamic Studies

Institute of Education and Humanities

Tel: +44 (0)1570 424894
Email: g.bunt@uwtsd.ac.uk

Role in the University

  • Principal Investigator, ESRC Digital British Islam Project (2022-)
  • Co-Investigator, CHANSE Digital Islam Across Europe Project (2022-)

Background

As an academic focused particularly on religious authority and contemporary Islam, his work has focused on delivery of a range of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, alongside supervision. In the past, he was also involved for a long time with the Higher Education Academy and the Islamic Studies Network as Academic Coordinator, alongside executive roles within the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. In terms of research, he has paid particular attention to diverse aspects of Islam, and to Muslim networking and expression facilitated through online media. This has resulted in a range of publications and conference papers, alongside contributions to two ongoing research projects on digital Islam.

Academic Interests

Postgraduate Supervision

  • Media representation;
  • Online Islam;
  • Maqasid;
  • A.J. Arberry;
  • Islamic Medical Ethics;
  • Religion and the Internet: social networking;
  • Social Media in Muslim contexts;
  • Islamic Jurisprudence;
  • Framing The Other: the Effect of Worldview, Rhetoric And Media Dissonance on Muslim Perceptions of the U.S Post-9/11;
  • Ta’ziyah Passion Play in Iranian popular culture;
  • Islam in Malaysia;
  • Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in Korea;
  • Islam and the Environment.

Postgraduate Modules

Prof. Bunt developed the MA Islamic Studies (2003–), and wrote and coordinated the following modules:

  • Islam Today,
  • Study Skills for Islamic Studies,
  • Muslim Networks,
  • Muslim Politics,
  • Project Module.

He also supervises many of the dissertations for the MA.

Undergraduate modules

  • Exploring Muslim Societies in the Modern World, Islam in the West;
  • Diversity of Muslim Expression;
  • Islam in Contemporary Societies;
  • Religion, Media and Society;
  • Methods and Approaches to the Study of Theology and Religion (co-ordinator/developer).
  •  Sex and Violence: Religion in the Modern World;
  • Imagining the Other;
  • Islam in the Contemporary World (contributor)

Research Interests

Gary R. Bunt has been conducting research on Islam, Muslims and the internet since 1997. This has focused on contemporary Islam, Muslims and the internet. This work has reached beyond a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary academic audience, towards engagement with governmental sectors, policy makers, media, and Muslim communities in the UK and abroad. It has acquired a general audience through being presented in public lectures, and via internet, broadcast and print media in the UK and abroad.

The primary contribution of the research has been the development of new methodologies and knowledge of the phenomena associated with Islam and Muslims in cyberspace. This has required the development of specific methodological considerations associated with multidisciplinary Religious Studies/Islamic Studies, integrating cyber-cultural considerations with historical factors and theory surrounding political, social and cultural aspects of contemporary Islam.

This research has included studies of dialogues on forms of jihad within various regional settings, and writing about web 2.0, social networking, multimedia and blogging. Much of this work has established foundations for disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies into Islam and the internet and religions on the internet. It has a specific social impact nationally and internationally in terms of analysis of this critical sector of internet discourse.

Expertise

N/A