Mary Briggs - PhD Candidate in Religious Studies (Principal's Career Development Scholar, School of Divinity Scholarship)
PhD in Divinity (Religious Studies)
Year of study: 5
- School of Divinity
- Religious Studies Department
Contact details
- Email: s2110142@ed.ac.uk
Background
My thesis uses digital ethnographic methods and media content analysis to examine how the relationship between the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the South Korean state, and mainstream Protestantism. I argue that Shincheonji offers an excellent case study to examine citizenship in the South Korean context, particularly in light of recent demographic changes.
Qualifications
BA Magna Cum Laude from Beloit College in Anthropology and Religious Studies
MSc with Distinction from the London School of Economics in Social Anthropology (Religion in the Contemporary World)
Responsibilities & affiliations
Book Reviews Editor for Religion (Taylor and Francis)
Member of the British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group
Member of the British Association for the Study of Religions
Undergraduate teaching
Tutor for:
Studying Religions
Global Indigenous Religions
Popular Religion, Women and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
Religion in Modern Britain
Research summary
My PhD research project addresses the relationship between the South Korean state and a new Christian movement, with a particular focus on kinship, surveillance, and the relationship between politics and Protestantism in South Korea.
Current research interests
New religions, religion and politics, kinship, surveillance, South KoreaConference details
I have presented at the Pandemic Perspectives Conference (April 2021), the British Association for the Study of Religions Conference (September 2021, 2023, 2024), the European Association for the Study of Religions Conference (June 2022), and the British Sociological Association's Sociology of Religion Conference (July 2023, 2024)