Our upcoming research seminars in 2026

Our online research seminars will resume in January.

These seminars offer the opportunity to hear from researchers working at the intersection of science, faith, and society, and are open to anyone with an interest in these questions. You can sign up to receive invitations here.

Here are the talks coming up this term.

Over the Edge: Why People Believe the Earth is Flat

Thursday 15 January, 1pm UK time

Please note the later start time, for this session only.

Speaker: Dr Edward Guimont, Head of the History Department, Bristol Community College.

Dr Guimont will trace Flat Earth advocacy from its nineteenth-century roots — emerging in anti-evolution activism in the UK and liberation theology among emancipated slaves in the US — to its reframing through anti-Catholic populism. He will show how Flat Earth theology has been taken up by groups as diverse as South African Boers, Black Hebrew Israelites, Tunisian democratic activists, and Boko Haram, and how its revival in the age of social media has laid the groundwork for contemporary conspiracy movements.

Pandemics, Planet and Power: African Women’s Postcolonial Theologies and Science-Engaged Faith

Thursday 19 February, 9am UK time

Speaker: Olivia Rathbone, ECLAS International Grants Manager and doctoral researcher in science-engaged theology.

This seminar explores how African women theologians, particularly in Southern Africa and Kenya, bring scientific knowledge into conversation with postcolonial and feminist theology. Focusing on HIV/AIDS, Covid-19, and climate change, it considers how health and ecological crises are shaped by colonial legacies, gender inequality, and control over knowledge.

Title tbc

Thursday 19 March, 9am UK time

Speaker: S. Dr Małgorzata Pagacz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Christian Mysticism, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw, and member of the Ursuline Sisters of the Agonising Heart of Jesus.

Trained in mathematics and philosophy, S. Dr Pagacz is also a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists. Her research interests include Christian spirituality, the theology of Benedict XVI, and the relationship between spirituality and science.

We hope to see you at one of our seminars soon.