Dr Sariya Contractor
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Job title: Project Researcher - Religion and Society
Email: s.contractor@derby.ac.uk
I'm a media friendly expert
Recent publications
2013
'Researching the Non-religious: Methods and Methodological Issues, Challenges and Controversies' in Day, A & Cotter, C Social Identities between the Sacred and the Secular
2012
Muslim women in Britain: Demystifying the Muslimah. London: Routledge
Research Report: Arabic language and Islamic Studies: who studies Arabic and how can these skills be used at university and beyond? (with Scott-Baumann A)
'How to build bridges between universities and Muslim colleges in Britain with partnerships and curricula' in Perspectives: Teaching Islamic Studies in Higher Education. Issue 4 April 2012 (with Scott-Baumann A)
2011
'Marginalisation or an Opportunity for Dialogue: exploring the Hijab as a Discursive Symbol of the Identity of Young Muslim Women' in Gabriel, T & Hanan, R (Eds) Islam and Veil. London: Continuum
'Enhancing the visibility of Muslim women in Islamic Studies - Opportunities and More' in Perspectives: Teaching Islamic Studies in Higher Education. Issue 2, June 2011(with Scott-Baumann A)
Research Report: Encouraging Muslim women into higher education through partnerships and collaborative pathways. Southampton: HEA Islamic Studies Network (with Scott-Baumann A)
Research Report: Muslim Faith Leader Training: An Independent Review. London: Department of Communities and Local Government (with Mukadam M; Scott-Baumann A and Chowdhury A)
Experience in Industry
During the period May 2002 to May 2006 in line with my postgraduate qualifications, I worked as a Human Resources Executive/Consultant with various organisations in Mumbai, India. As part of my job roles I was usually responsible for end-to-end resourcing: recruitment and training; facilitation of goal setting exercises and performance appraisals; employee relations activities; and quality initiatives.
Faculty: Education, Health and Sciences
Subject Area: Sociology of Religion
I started in January 2011 as project researcher at the University of Derby working with Principal Investigator, Professor Paul Weller, and the research team from the universities of Derby, Manchester and Oxford on AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society project exploring "Religion and Belief, Discrimination and Equality in England and Wales: Theory, Policy and Practice (2000-2010)".
As part of this, I will be undertaking fieldwork in five case study areas - Leicester, Cardiff, Blackburn, Newham and Norwich - through which the research aims to access the voices and experiences of "everyday" people on the subject of "discrimination" and "equality" with regard to "religion" and "belief", including focus group work with those who consider themselves as "non-religious". For more details of the project please see www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-society.
I came to the project having recently completed my doctoral thesis on De-mystifying the Muslimah: exploring different perceptions of selected young Muslim women living in Britain which will be published by Routledge next year. My research juxtaposes religious Muslim women's voices with feminist-pragmatist philosophy, thus bringing together religious and secular standpoints and facilitating discourses about inter-community dialogue, social diversity and syncretic British identities.
I was also part of a team that completed an independent review of Muslim faith leader training - Imams, Alims and Alimahs - in Britain commissioned and funded by the Department of Communities and Local Governments (DCLG),available at www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/1734121.pdf and have been working on a Higher Education Academy funded research project that examines ways to enhance Alimahs' (female Muslim religious scholars) uptake of university education through collaborative pathways between universities and Muslim institutions. I am an Associate Chaplain at the University of Gloucestershire. My recent academic publications include articles about identity politics and migration, the hijab and online Sufism as experienced and expressed by young people on the internet. Finally, I have written a number of articles on the persona of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for young internet audiences.
Research interests
- Sociology or Religion
- Sociology of Islam
- Muslims in Britain
- Muslim women
- Non-religious voices
Membership of professional bodies and advisory committees
Higher Education Authority Islamic Studies Network.
Recent Conferences
- 'Demystifying the Muslimah: Methodological Innovations', invited seminar talk for Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, 19 April 2011.
- 'Personal Narratives and their Potential for Dialogue', invited seminar talk for Oxford Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, 15 February 2011.
- 'Life during the PhD', invited speaker for Islamic Studies Network PhD Workshop, 16-17 February 2011.
- 'British Muslim Women's Narratives of Rights and Social Change', presentation for International Interdisciplinary Conference - Women Universities as Agents of Change, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan, 26-27 November 2010.
- 'Visibility, Invisibility and the Muslim Woman Role Model', presentation for Women and Religion: Doctrinal, Historical and Social Perspectives Conference, Bristol University, 20 November 2010.
- 'De-mystifying the Muslimah: Using Muslim women's digital stories to develop notions of women's solidarity and shared femininity', seminar talk for Warwick University Centre for the Study of Women and Gender (CSWG) Graduate Seminar Series 2010-2011, 20 October 2010.
- 'Online Sufism - Young British Muslims, their internet 'selves' and virtual reality', presentation for Annual Islam Conference (2010) - Sufism in Britain, University of Gloucestershire, 13 April 2010.
- 'Experiencing Inter-disciplinary Research', presentation for PRISM Seminar on Interdisciplinary Research and Sustainability, University of Gloucestershire, 10 February 2010.
- 'Diversity in Dialogue: the Common Roots of Christianity and Islam' with Dr. John Sampson Cheltenham Interfaith, 30 June 2009.
- 'Diversity, Homogeneity or 'Just Us!': Theorising Contexts and Contents for Sustainable Inter-community Dialogue' Second International Conference on Whole Life Sustainability and its Assessment (Sue-MOT Conference), Loughborough University, 23-24 April 2009.
Media experience
Radio interviews on BBC Gloucestershire on local Gloucester radio regarding my research on Muslim women.
Undergraduate qualifications
- BSc Physics, Mumbai University
- PGDBM, Rizvi Academy of Management, Mumbai
Research qualifications
- PhD on Muslim women in Britain and inter-community dialogue , University of Gloucestershire
Research posts
| Institution | Project | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| University of Derby | Religion and Belief, Discrimination and Equality in England and Wales | Currently ongoing |
| University of Gloucestershire | Muslim Faith Leader Training in Britain | July 2008 - March 2010 |
