About me

A theologian with a passion for taking bodies seriously as starting places for theological reflection and construction of reimagined theologies.

After a career in secondary education, I undertook an MA in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham (2013) with a thesis on Marian Temple Typology. This lead me to doctoral study at the University of Exeter (2016) for a PhD in Theology and Religion. My doctoral thesis was focused on the emerging field of Trauma Theology and the ways this intersects with the Eucharist and the body of Mary. This work was eventually published as Broken Bodies: The Eucharist, Mary, and the Body in Trauma Theology (SCM Press 2018).

After my doctoral work, I held a research fellowship at Durham University where I developed my theological research into bodies and their existence in digital spaces. This led me to a permanent role at Sarum College where I led an MA in Christian Spirituality. During this time, I began a new research project into the impact the experience of reproductive loss, particularly miscarriage, might have on how we construct theology. This work was published as The Dark Womb: Re-Conceiving Theology through Reproductive Loss (SCM Press, 2022).

Alongside this research, I have continued to push forward the field of Trauma Theology in both the UK and internationally. This has included the publication of two edited collections with Dr Katie Cross—Feminist Trauma Theologies: Body, Scripture, Church in Critical Perspective and Bearing Witness: Intersectional Perspectives on Trauma Theology—both published with SCM Press. I have also written the first introductory survey of the field of Trauma Theology.

I am the Academic Dean at Westcott House - an Anglican Theological College in Cambridge. I teach liturgy, trauma theology, sacramental theology, and pedagogy. I also teach Gender and Christian Theology for the Divinity Faculty at Cambridge University. I supervise a range of PhD projects.

My current research projects include an edited volume on pregnancy & theology entitled Theologies from the Inside Out: Critical Conceptions of Pregnancy and Theology with Claire Williams. Alongside this I am working on monograph titled Survival: Radical Spiritual Practices for Trauma Survivors. Both projects will be published with SCM Press in 2024.