Clinton Bennett’s Home Page Resources in Cultural/Religious Studies,
Islam/Christian-Muslim Relations.
Welcome (Bangla – Shagotom) www.clintonbennett.net |
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Westminster’s Chapel
Sunset in Bangladesh
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BIO DATA: My Interests and Background
I am currently History and Biography editor for an on-line encyclopedia. During 2007 I was an accredited representative of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (which is in special consultative status with ECOSOC) at the United Nations in NY. Between Oct 1998 and May 2001 I was an associate professor of religion at Baylor University, TX, USA where I taught world religions with a specialist focus on Islam and South Asia. For several years I also worked in education administration for the City of Birmingham Learning and Culture Directorate, attaining the rank of Principal Officer. Between 1992 and 1998 I was Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies and an Assistant Chaplain at Westminster College, Oxford
(now the Westminster Institute of Education of Oxford Brookes
University). 1987 – 1992 I was
Executive Secretary for Inter-religious Relations at the British Council of
Churches. I am an ordained Baptist
Minister. I hold a BA in Theology from Manchester University, the MA
and PhD from Birmingham University, and the M.Ed from Oxford
University. I am a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (FRAS), of
the Royal Anthropological Institute (FRAI) of the American
Biographical Institute (FABI) of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion and a Member of the American Academy of Religion. For more career information, see see my curriculum
vitae.
My geographical focus
is on the Indian Sub-Continent, where I have lived and worked. I served with the Baptist Missionary
Society 1979 – 1983 and have regularly travelled and lectured in India. Click here for a map of the
Sub-Continent: Large
Map of Sub-Continent. My wife, Rekha Sarker
Bennett, is originally from Bangladesh.
She holds a BA from Dhaka University, a Dip.Ed from
Birmingham, a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from Wolverhampton University and a Master of Science in Development Practice from Oxford
Brookes. She has also completed the P.Q.S.W. (Post Qualifying Award in Social Work) and is an Approved Social Worker under the Mental Health Act (1983). PUBLICATIONS AND BOOKSHOP
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(London,
Kogan Page: 1996) 
Muslims and Modernity: An Introduction to the Issues and Debates
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My PhD
research was on Western (six
British Christian) images of Islam in the nineteenth century. (There is a picture of Birmingham
University's Great Hall, where I graduated, below right). My own approach has been greatly influenced by the work of Edward Said (1935-2003) and Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1916 - 2000). Said draws our attention to the relationship between the colonial enterprise, and how Western scholars constructed images of their colonial subjects. The scholars' constructs were used to give moral justification to imperialism's concept of the "white man's burden" - the West was intellectually and morally superior! See the Edward Said Archive Smith defined the task of the outsider scholar, writing about Others, as to write an account that will elicit their approval. Too often, insiders have failed to recognise themselves in these accounts. We all write, he said, for a global community. For Smith, see W. C. Smith. Of course, insiders as well as outsiders tell different stories, depending upon their status and interests - so no account is likely to attract everyone's consent. Nonetheless, fascinated by the degree to which outsiders can understand other religions, cultures, worldviews from an insider's perspective, I started to use ethnographic participant observation as my main research tool, striving towards collaborative insider-outsider research.
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Click here Village Mosque for a picture of me outside a village mosque in Bangladesh during fieldwork research for my book on Muhammad (see above for my publications). The test of a collaborative account is: are those involved in the research process willing to concede that it has an authority, a truthfulness, even if it conforms exactly to none of their individual stories? My interest in Christian-Muslim dialogue raises the problematic of rival theological truth claims. Whilst I believe that people should enjoy the right to inform others about their beliefs, even to persuade people to change them, I am convinced that polemic and debate is bankrupt. I am interested in post-colonial literature, and debates about "multiculturalsm"/identity in the modern, pluralist world we inhabit. I have an on-going project, originally inspired by Salman Rushdie's fiction, working on themes addressing belonging, identity, the migrant condition - see my article. I also use film and literature (especially colonial and post-colonial) in my teaching. Some examples of this can be found on my Lecture Page. I would like to hear from other academics, or from anyone, who shares my interests. Article based
on my PhD thesis Honours and Awards:- In 1995, I was named on the American Society of Missiology Reviewers’ Roll of Honor.
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I
argued that writers' a priori assumptions about the status of Islam
tended to determine how they saw Islam.
I am writing a book on understanding the Qur'an (for Continuum). My aim is to explore the contents of the Qur'an in the context of the life of Muhammad and the development of the Muslim community with reference to classical and modern exegesis. In Search of Solutions: Religions and Conflict
I am contracted with Equinox for a book on religion and conflict in a series edited by Rosemary Reuther and Lisa Isherwood. Click here for more details of this project Synopsis of In Search of Solutions.
My 'work-in-progress' page, FUSION THEOLOGY on citizenship, pluralism, culture e.t.c.
RESOURCES AND LINKS
Ø My Lectures and Notes in the Study of Religions. I am especially interested in methodology and use of literature and film to aid the study of religion. Post-colonial literature features prominently.
Ø My Resource Page in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
Ø My Reviews in Study of Religions/Islam/Christian-Muslims Relations/Religion and Politics
Ø My Survey of Christian-Muslim Encounter
Ø Some papers presented at various conferences
SERMONS
Some videos of sermons I have preached:
Remembering is Not Enough, Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2007. Here is a text version Remembering is Not Enough. This sermon was preached on Transfiguration Sunday, 18 Feb 2007 Living for God: The Liturgy of Work
Ø The Po-Mo
Page: Postmodern, Postmodernism, Postmodernity Ø Jewish-Christian Relations: Home Ø Religion Religions
Religious Studies Page Ø Citizenship and Democracy (UK) site Ø A site dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi
Ø Notes
on Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses by Paul Brians Ø Postcolonial
and Postimperial Literature: An Overview Ø Award winning Virtual Bangladesh
Picture taken in the UTS Interfaith Chapel.
My GUESTBOOK/WEB SEARCH ENGINES
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e.mail me : Dr Clinton Bennett
Click for my page on Operation Enduring Freedom
© Clinton Bennett 2008
