Dr Paul-Francois Tremlett

Professional biography

I joined the Religious Studies department at the Open University in 2010. I was awarded my PhD by the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) having studied under the supervision of Dr Cosimo Zene. I conducted ethnographic research in the Philippines around the extinct volcano Mount Banahaw, a place popularly associated with healing, magic and "Rizalism", which got me interested in the improvisational elements of religion and culture.

Research interests

I am interested in theory and method in Religious Studies, and, as well as ethnographic research in the Philippines, I have conducted research in Taiwan around death and secularism and in Hong Kong and London, on the Occupy movement. I conducted research online during the Covid pandemic on the formation of transnational “moral publics” in relation to campaigns by Filipino human rights organisations in the diaspora to highlight the self-styled war on drugs pursued by former Filipino president, Rodrigo Duterte.

I am currently leading two research projects both of which foreground issues of literacy in religion. One is focused on developing resources for FE colleges to teach religious literacy and is generously funded by St Peters Saltley Trust. The other attends to issues of disinformation and democracy, and the role of religious institutions and communities in both contesting and disseminating disinformational narratives. This project is supported by the Open Societal Challenges research fund at the Open University.

I am interested in supervising research students working on religion and processes of rapid social change.

Teaching interests

My recent teaching has focused on religion and protest in relation to recent waves of demonstrations in Hong Kong (Open University module D113 Global Challenges: Social Science in Action), on religious change and experimentation in the aftermath of the French revolution (Open University module A113 Revolutions),  and on "fetishism" in relation to human relationships with technology (OU module DD218 Understanding Digital Societies). I am currently developing teaching materials in relation to transhumanism and disability (OU module DA332, Religion and Global Challenges). 

Impact and engagement

My research and teaching interests are aligned with the Open University's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to the Religious Studies department's commitment to knowledge exchange with schools and other stakeholders to promote religious literacy.
 

External collaborations

I am a member of the Royal Anthropological Institute, the British Sociological Association and its sociology of religion arm SOCREL, and I am President of the British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR).

International links

I am on the editorial board of four, international peer-reviewed journals, Culture and Religion, Implicit Religion, Critical Research on Religion and Frontiers in Sociology. I am also a Research Associate with the Centre for Critical Research on Religion. I co-edit the Bloomsbury book series, Religion, Space and Place.