Professor Beverley Clack

Bev Clack

Audio clips

  • Reader in Philosophy of Religion < param value='high' name='quality' />
  • The most impressive elements of Oxford Brookes and what Dr Clack wants to achieve from her research < param value='high' name='quality' />
  • The most impressive elements of Oxford Brookes and what Dr Clack wants to achieve from her research < param value='high' name='quality' />

Professor in the Philosophy of Religion

Department of History, Philosophy and Religion - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Research activities

The themes of my research

Cultures and communities

Details of my research

Beverley's research is concerned with exploring the way in which feminist and psychoanalytic theories can inform the approach and content of a humanist approach to the philosophical study of religion. Her publications include Feminist Philosophy of Religion: Critical Readings, co-edited with Pamela Sue Anderson (2004); Sex and Death: A Reappraisal of Human Mortality (2002); Misogyny in the Western Philosophical Tradition (1999); and The Philosophy of Religion, co-authored with Brian R. Clack in 1998 (a fully revised second edition of this book was published in 2008). She holds a BA in Theology from Westminster College Oxford, and a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Religion from King’s College London. In 2006 she completed an MSc in Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies at University College London, and is currently working on two books which seek to develop the relationship between psychoanalysis and the philosophy of religion.

She was made professor in 2009 and a recording of her inaugural lecture 'In Sickness and In Health: Religion, Philosophy and Human Wellbeing' can be found here.

Academic and Research Interests

Philosophy of religion, and particularly feminist approaches to the subject. Also the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and philosophy of religion.

Teaching Responsibilities

Undergraduate:

Issues in Contemporary Philosophy
Essentials in the Philosophy of Religion
Continental Philosophy of Religion
Religion, Philosophy and the Body

Masters:

Theological Ethics
PhD supervision in the areas of contemporary theology, philosophy of religion (including relationship with feminism and psychoanalysis), and gender.

Research and Consultancy Projects

Co-organiser of ESRC seminar series ‘Changing Notions of the Human Subject: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Emotional Well-being and Social Justice in Education Policy and Practice’

Currently working on Freud for OneWorld and Beyond Reason: Psychoanalysis and the Philosophy of Religion for Ashgate.

Teaching activities

Undergraduate:

  • Issues in Contemporary Philosophy
  • Essentials in the Philosophy of Religion
  • Continental Philosophy of Religion
  • Religion Philosophy and the Body
  • Culture Gender and Sexuality

Postgraduate:

Masters course in Theology and Ethics

Postgraduate research degree supervision

in the areas of:

  • philosophy of religion (with particular emphasis on feminist and psychoanalytic approaches)
  •  sexuality and gender in philosophy and theology
  • psychotherapy/psychoanalysis and spirituality

Areas of expertise

  • Philosophy of religion: particularly as this relates to issues of death and dying, sex and sexuality and the role that psychoanalytic theory might play in the exploration of the sources of religious belief and sensibility.
  • Feminist ideas in theology and philosophy
  • Literature, art and creativity in the construction of religion
  • Philosophy and the public spac

Expert roles and recognition

  • Member of the Executive Editorial Board for the journal Feminist Theology
  • Member of Editorial Board of the journal Ars Disputandi

Media enquiries

Contact the Public Relations Office on +44 (0)1865 484452.