Sophie Gilliat-Ray, OBE

FLSW The Learned Society of Wales ( Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh natio ...

is professor of Religious and Theological Studies and Director for the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Career

Gilliat-Ray studied Religious studies and interfaith studies at the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest Academic degree, degree awarding institution in Wale ...

, where she completed her PhD '''Perspectives on the Religious Identity of Muslims in Britain''' in 1994. From 1994 until 1997 she was a research fellow in the department of sociology at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, and in 1998 at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

. Since 1998 she has worked at

, where she was promoted to professor in 2013. She is the director of the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK. She was the principal investigator on the AHRC-funded project 'Leadership and Capacity Building in the British Muslim Community: the case of 'Muslim Chaplains' (2008–12), She has also been the co-investigator on numerous other projects, including 'Understanding Religion and Law: Muslims, Fatwas and Muftis in the UK’ (with Robert Gleave and Mustafa Baig, 2016–17), 'Religion in multi-ethnic contexts: a multidisciplinary case study of global seafaring' (with Helen Anne Sampson, 2017–20)

Awards

* Muslim Council of Wales achievement award (2012) * Fellow of the

Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales (Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh nation ...

(2019) * OBE for services to Education and Muslim Communities in Britain (2020)

Publications

* 2003. 'Nursing, professionalism, and spirituality', ''Journal of Contemporary Religion'', 18:3, 335–349, DOI: 10.1080/13537900310001601695 * 2005. ‘Sacralising’ Sacred Space in Public Institutions: A Case Study of the Prayer Space at the Millennium Dome', ''Journal of Contemporary Religion'', 20:3, 357–372, DOI: 10.1080/13537900500249921 * 2010. ''Muslims in Britain''. Cambridge University Press. * 2011. 'Being there’ the experience of shadowing a British Muslim Hospital chaplain. ''Qualitative Research''. 11(5), 469–486. doi:10.1177/1468794111413223 * with Ali, M. M. and Pattison, S. 2013. ''Understanding Muslim Chaplainc''y. Ashgate AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilliat-Ray, Sophie Religious studies scholars Academics of Cardiff University Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Wales 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh writers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales