Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
- [email protected]
- +44 (0) 20 8392 3000
- 431 Sir David Bell Building
- @ash_cocksworth
- Virtual office hours: Tuesdays (3.30-4.30 pm) and Wednesdays (3.30-4.30 pm) - e-mail me for the link
I am Reader (Associate Professor) in Theology and Practice at the University of Roehampton. I joined the University in 2018 as Senior Lecturer, having previously been Assistant Professor in Theology and Ministry in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University (2017-18) and Tutor in Systematic Theology at The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham (2012-17). My studies were undertaken at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cambridge.
My internal roles include:
- Convener of the Practical Theology Seminars (Centre for Practical Philosophy, Theology and Religion).
- Programme Convener of the Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology (DTh).
- Research Degrees Convener (School of Humanities).
My external roles include:
- Editor, Elements in Christian Doctrine Series (CUP), with Rachel Muers (Edinburgh) and Simeon Zahl (Cambridge)
- Editor-in-Chief, Studies in Systematic Theology Series(Brill), with Hanna Reichel (Princeton)
- Associate, Aberdeen Centre for Protestant Theology, University of Aberdeen
- Editorial Board, Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care
- External Examiner: University of Cambridge, University of Winchester (Sarum College, Salisbury), and Durham University
- Fellow (2021 Cohort) in Science-Engaged Theology, University of St Andrews.
Previous external appointments and responsibilities include:
- Honorary Research Fellow, The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham
- Treasurer, The Society for the Study of Theology (SST)
- Editorial Board, Grove Books (Doctrine)
- External Examiner: University of Chester
Research interests
I work in the area of Christian theology. More specifically, I am interested in the relation between religious belief and religious practice. I am particularly interested how these questions get framed and theorised in modern theology and increasingly in Anglican systematic theology.
In terms of actual religious practices, I am primarily interested in ‘everyday’ (or nearly everyday) religious practices and some of the ordinary things religious people do. I have written on Evening Prayer in Anglican liturgy, the Sabbath as a form of contemplation, the Sabbath as a form of ecological practice, baptism, the saying of the creeds in worship, the idea of giving glory to God, the practice of 'reading', the smile, and more generally and variously theological matters relating to the practice of prayer - including when prayer goes wrong. I have found prayer to be a useful ‘way in’ to investigate the relation between belief-formation and practice. My next major research project develops a theology of joy in dialogue with strands of social and developmental psychology.
Publications
- Karl Barth on Prayer (Studies in Systematic Theology Series; T&T Clark / Bloomsbury, 2015)
- Prayer: A Guide for the Perplexed (Bloomsbury, 2018)
- The Grammar of Grace: Readings from the Christian Tradition (Cascade Books, 2019).
- The T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Prayer, co-edited with John C. McDowell (Bloomsbury, 2021).
- Karl Barth: Spiritual Writings, co-edited with W. Travis McMaken (Classics of Western Spirituality Series; Paulist Press, 2022).
- From the Shores of Silence: Conversations in Feminist Practical Theology, co-edited with Rachel Starr and Stephen Burns (London: SCM Press, 2023).
- Glorification and the Life of Faith, co-authored with David F. Ford (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023).
- Ford's The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918, co-edited with Rachel Muers (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2024).
Research projects
I am the PI on the Faith Long Lived: An Ecumenical Study of Experiences of Saying Creeds among Older Christians project funded by the Southlands Methodist Trust.
I am the PI on project funded by the John Templeton Foundation as part of the New Visions in Theological Anthropology: Engaging with the Behavioral Sciences grant at the University of St Andrews which is designed to get theologians thinking carefully about theological anthropology on those questions that involve evolutionary biology, developmental psychology, and cognitive science. My project is entitled: Smiling for Joy: Theological Engagements with Psychology.
I am the PI on a project funded by a BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant entitled: Listening for Joy in an Age of Despair: The Religious Lives of Older (Anglican) Christians.
Previously, I was the PI on the God and Study Skills: Learning as Formation project funded by a Common Awards (Durham University) seedcorn grant.
Teaching
I am Programme Convener of the Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology (DTh). If you are interested in the DTh programme, please contact me and I will be pleased to provide further information.
I am supervising the following doctoral projects: Luke Larner (on pneumatologies of mission and community organising); Andrew Axon (on burnout and joy); Lisa Bewick (on safeguarding in the Church of England’; Leslie Crossland: (on faith formation in public worship); Jonathan Mead (on tradition formation and transmission); David Childs (on perinatal loss and trauma theology); Pippa Ross-McCabe (on theological reflection in TEIs); Monica McArdle (on somantic awareness in lectio divina); Mark Ord (on Baptist missiology and embodiment).
I have convened a variety of modules accross all levels (FdA, BTh, BA, MA, DTh). In 2023/24, I am convening the following:
- Christian Doctrine in Practice [L6]
- Final Year Project [L6]
- Publishable Article [L8]
Professional affiliations
External positions
Editor, Elements in Christian Doctrine Series (CUP)
2023 → …
Editor-in-Chief, Studies in Systematic Theology, Brill
2022 → …
External Examiner, Durham University
2022 → …
Editorial Board, Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care
2021 → …
External Examiner, University of Winchester
2021 → 2024
Associate, Aberdeen Centre for Protestant Theology (University of Aberdeen)
2020 → …
External Examiner, University of Cambridge
2020 → …
External Examiner, University of Chester
2020 → 2023
Honorary Research Fellow, The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham
2019 → 2022
External Examiner, St Albans Cathedral Study Centre
2018 → 2020
Editorial Group, Grove Books (Doctrine Series)
2017 → 2021
Treasurer, Society for the Study of Theology
2016 → 2020
Executive Committee Member, Society for the Study of Theology
2013 → 2016
Projects
- 4 Finished
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Listening for Joy in an Age of Despair: The Religious Lives of Older (Anglican) Christians
Cocksworth, D. A. (PI)
1/11/22 → 31/10/24
Project: Research
-
Smiling for Joy: Theological Engagements with Psychology
Cocksworth, D. A. (PI)
17/01/22 → 16/01/23
Project: Research
-
Faith Long Lived: An Ecumenical Study of Experiences of Saying Creeds among Older Christians
Cocksworth, D. A. (PI), Rogers, A. (CoI) & Watkins, C. (CoI)
1/01/22 → 1/07/23
Project: Research
-
God and Study Skills: Learning as Formation
Cocksworth, D. A. (PI), Slee, N. (CoI) & Allen, D. (PI)
1/09/18 → 31/08/19
Project: Research
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Barth's Spirituality Revisited: Responses to Symposium on Karl Barth: Spiritual Writers
Cocksworth, A., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Reformed Theology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Ford’s The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918 (Fourth Edition)
Cocksworth, A. (Editor) & Muers, R. (Editor), 2024, Wiley-Blackwell. 840 p. (The Great Theologians Series)Research output: Book/Report › Edited Book › peer-review
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God as Object of Prayer
Cocksworth, A. & Borthwick, K., 2024, (Accepted/In press) T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Christian Theology. Eikrem, A. (ed.). T&T Clark / BloomsburyResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Introduction
Cocksworth, A. & Muers, R., 2024, Ford's The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918. Cocksworth, A. & Muers, R. (eds.). Fourth ed. Wiley-BlackwellResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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'Complaint to God: The Theory and Practice of Prayer', review of Oliver D. Crisp, James M. Arcadi, and Jordan Wessling, eds, Analyzing Prayer Theological and Philosophical Essays
Cocksworth, A., 11 Aug 2023, TLS-THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Book/Film/Article review
Prizes
-
Colin Gunton Memorial Prize
Cocksworth, A. (Recipient), 2010
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Activities
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The Passion of Joy: Finding Suffering in Joy
Cocksworth, A. (Speaker)
Feb 2024Activity: Talk or presentation for an academic audience › Invited talk for an academic audience
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Praying the Creeds
Cocksworth, A. (Speaker)
Apr 2024Activity: Talk or presentation for an academic audience › Invited talk for an academic audience
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Society for the Study of Theology Annual Conference
Watkins, C. (Speaker) & Cocksworth, A. (Speaker)
8 Apr 2024 → 11 Apr 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an academic event › Participation in academic conference
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The Passion of Joy
Cocksworth, A. (Speaker)
Apr 2024Activity: Talk or presentation for an academic audience › Invited talk for an academic audience
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Glory, Prayer and the Practice of Unity
Cocksworth, A. (Speaker)
Feb 2024Activity: Public engagement and outreach › Contribution to the work of non-academic organisations