Dr Nuam Hatzaw (BA, MTh, PhD, AFHEA)

Research Development Fellow - Centre for Theology and Public Issues

Biography

Background

Nuam Hatzaw is Research Development Fellow at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI) where she is undertaking research on migrant Christians and the theological ideas underpinning their conceptions of Scotland, Scottish national identity, and the idea of 'homeland'. 

She is also Lecturer in Asian Christianity at Church Mission Society where she convenes the MA in Asian Christianity and assists with the Acts 11 Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration. 

Nuam belongs to the Zomi people, a predominantly Christian ethnic minority group found primarily in Chin State, north-west Myanmar. She was born in Chin State but has spent most of her life in the UK.

She is co-host of the podcast Voices of World Christianity and serves as mentor and consultant for the Chin State Academic Research Network, a non-profit dedicated to promoting education and research in and from the region.

Qualifications

  • BA Social Anthropology and Development Studies (SOAS, University of London)
  • MTh World Christianity (University of Edinburgh)
  • PhD World Christianity (University of Edinburgh)
  • Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Responsibilities & affiliations

  • Managing Editor - Studies in World Christianity (Edinburgh University Press)

Research summary

  • World Christianity
  • Postcolonial feminist theology 
  • Myanmar/Burma studies 
  • Anthropology of Space and Place 
  • Migration and Diaspora 
  • Religion and Nationalism

Current research interests

Nuam's research project with CTPI explores the role Christianity plays in the construction of nationhood in a diversifying, pluralistic Scotland. 25 years after devolution, the question of what constitutes a national Scottish identity remains contested, heightened by increasing migration to Scotland. When migrants travel, they take with them not only their faith, but also expectations and aspirations of their new homeland. Such visions may be conditioned by that faith, and may contrast with existing ideas of Scottish identity, which has tended to model itself on liberal values such as tolerance, equality, and inclusivity – values that implicitly separate faith from culture and politics. Hitherto, insufficient attention has been paid to how Christian migrants to Scotland understand, envision, and invest in their new home. This project employs qualitative research methods to explore how Christians in Scotland – migrant and native – imagine Scottish national identity. It asks, what, if any, theological motifs undergird these constructions of nationhood and identifies the points of convergence and divergence. More broadly, it raises the critical question of the place of religion within civic and cultural nationalisms.

Past research interests

Prior to her appointment, Nuam was Research Associate on the 'Global Christians in Edinburgh' project from the Centre for the Study of World Christianity. This was the first ever study of global (migrant and ethnic minority) Christian communities in Edinburgh. The 2-stage project involved a scoping exercise to identify the number and form of said communities, qualitative research into the experiences, needs, and activities of global Christians, and a networking workshop that brought together representatives from a range of denominations and ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.

Knowledge exchange

  • Voices of World Christianity podcast

Affiliated research centres

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