Dr Stefanie Sinclair

Professional biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies with a special interest in religion, identity, education and creative pedagogies.

I studied Protestant Theology and English Language and Literature at Heidelberg University in Germany and got ‘hooked’ on Religious Studies when I spent a semester as a visiting student at the University of Stirling. I completed my post-graduate studies, including an MA in 'Religion, Culture and Society' and a PhD in Religious Studies, at Lancaster University. I joined the Open University's Arts Faculty as a lecturer in Religious Studies at Walton Hall in 2009, but can also draw on 16 years of experience of working as an OU tutor (Associate Lecturer) in the North West of England. Previous employment include my role as Research Associate at the Department of Applied Social Science at Lancaster University. I have also been a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Chester and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Turin, Italy. 

Since 2018, I have been the Teaching and Learning Rep on the Executive Committee of the BASR (British Association for the Study of Religions). 

From 2018-22 I was the founding Director of FASSTEST (FASS Teaching Excellence and Scholarship of Teaching) at the Open University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. FASSTEST is a centre that promotes and supports innovation and scholarship in open and distance teaching and learning in the Arts and Social Sciences. As the Open University's Academic Lead for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2022-24) I led on the development and delivery of the Open University's 2024-29 Scholarship Plan.  

In 2019 I was shortlisted for the OU Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Impact on Teaching & Learning, Curriculum and Students.In 2017 I was awarded the first BASR Teaching and Learning Fellowship in recognition of my contribution to the innovation and transformation of the student learning experience in the study of religions. 

Research interests

I have a special research interest in religion & identity (gender and national identities in particular) and education.

Current research interests include

• Religion and gender
• Religion, politics and national identity 
• Religion and education
• Representations of Islam in party-political discourses (part. in Germany and the UK)
• Political discourses of religious toleration and peace
• Gender, place and leadership in religious communities 
• Creative pedagogies

Since 2018, I have been a member of the RETOPEA 'Religious Toleration and Peace' project team. RETOPEA has received funding by the European Union as part of the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (2018-22; Grant Agreement No. 770309), the Culham St Gabriel's Trust (2023-25) and the Open University's Open Societal Challenges programme (2023-24). This project has developed a pedagogic approach promoting young people's active engagement with religious history through the process of making short documentary-style films (so-called 'docutubes'). RETOPEA involves work in schools, museums and youth clubs in 8 countries across Europe with the following  partner institutions: KU Leuven (Belgium), The Open University (UK), Helsingin Yliopisto (Finland), Macedonian Centre for International Co-operation and Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (Macedonia), University of Granada (Spain), Leibniz Institut für Europäische Geschichte (Germany), University of Warsaw (Poland), University of Tartu (Estonia), Le Foyer vzw (Belgium) and the Euro-Arab Management School (Spain). (see: https://retopea.eu/s/start/page/home; @RetopeaEU)

This project also resulted in the production of an OpenLearn course for teachers and youth workers on 'Young People and Religion: Creative Learning with History' that I co-authored. 

Teaching interests

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and have been involved as a mentor in the OU's APPLAUD/ HEA accreditation scheme. Since 2018, I have been the Teaching and Learning rep on the exec board for the British Association of the Study of Religions (BASR).

I have been involved in the following projects exploring the scholarship of teaching and learning:

1) 'Creativity, criticality and engaging the senses in higher education': using the OpenStudio Platform and digital photography (co-led with John Maiden)

2) ‘Assessing oral presentations in distance learning’ (funded by a HEA Individual Teaching Development Grant)

3) 'Reflective Assessment Tasks in Access Modules’ (co-led with John Butcher, Dep. Director Access and Curriculum, Centre for Inclusion and Curriculum Partnerships, and funded by the New Models of Assessment and Tuition Scholarship Fund)

4) ‘The language of assessment: exploring best practice on Access courses to prepare tentative learners to succeed’ (with CICP and all Access chairs, funded by the OU Assessment Programme Scholarship fund)

I am currently chairing the production of the new Religious Studies module DA332 'Religion and global challenges in the past and present'. Throughout my career at the OU, I have been involved in the maintenance and development of a wide range of  modules. I was Module Team Chair of  AA100 'The Arts Past and Present' (2015-18), A332 'Why is religion controversial?' (2014-17), Y031, the Arts and Languages Access Module (2012-15) and Y180 'Making sense of the Arts' (2012 & 2014). From 2015-22 I was the Religious Studies rep on the module team for A111 'Discovering the Arts Past and Present'.

Publications

Co-edited book:

Van Nieuwenhuyse, Karel, Sinclair, Stefanie and Maiden, John (eds) (2025) Teaching and Learning About Religious Diversity in the Past and Present: Beyond Stereotypes, Palgrave Macmillan,  ISBN 978-3031758676. 

Academic journal articles:

Wolffe, J., Maiden. J., Sinclair, S and Teller, K. (2024) ‘Creative Shared Religious Education with Film-Making and History’, Religions 15 (11),  ISSN 2077-1444. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111337

Sinclair, S. (2021) ‘Introduction Part II: Teaching and Learning and the Study of Religion in Higher Education’, JBASR: Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions Vol. 23 (Teaching and Learning),  pp. 42-3. ISSN 2516-6379. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18792/jbasr.v23i0.56

Sinclair, S. and Maiden, J. (2020) 'Take a picture of religion: Engaging students in the multisensory study of lived religion', JBASR (Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions), Vol. 22 (Visualising Cultures), pp. 122-37. Available at: http://jbasr.com/ojs/index.php/jbasr/article/view/51

Sinclair, S. (2019) 'Discourses of extremism and British values: The politics of the Trojan Horse', Implict Religion: Journal of the Critical Study of Religion, Vol. 21 (4), pp. 338-360. DOI: 10.1558/imre.38965 

Sinclair, S. (2016) ‘The introduction and refinement of the assessment of digitally recorded oral presentations’, Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, Vol. 31 (2), Special issue on Assessment in Open, Distance and e-Learning: Lessons from Practice, pp. 163-175. DOI 10.1080/02680513.2016.1190640 

Sinclair, S. (2013) ‘Digital Literacy in Religious Studies’ in DISKUS: The Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religion (BASR), Vol. 14,Special Teaching and Learning Edition, pp. 37-54, [Online] Available from http://basr.ac.uk/diskus_old/diskus14/Sinclair.pdf

Sinclair. S. (2013) ‘More than just a piece of cloth: The German ‘headscarf’ debate’, Implicit Religion, Vol. 16 (4), Special Issue on ‘Veiling’, pp. 483-491.

Sinclair, S. (2013) ‘Regina Jonas: Forgetting and Remembering the first female rabbi’, Religion, Vol. 43 (4), pp. 541-563.

Sinclair, S. (2012) ‘National identity and the politics of the ‘headscarf debate’ in Germany’, Culture and Religion, Vol. 13 (1), pp. 19-39.

Sinclair, S. (2011), ‘Blended Learning and Tuition in Religious Studies: An Open University Perspective’, Discourse, Vol. 10 (3), [Online] Available from www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/subjects/prs/Blended-Learning-and-tuition-vol-10-3

Chapters in edited volumes:

Van Nieuwenhuyse, K., Maiden, J. and Sinclair, S. (2025) ‘Representations of religious diversity in the past and present: The need for a nuanced approach’ in Karel Van Nieuwenhuyse, John Maiden and Stefanie Sinclair (eds.) Teaching and Learning about Religious Diversity in the Past and Present: Beyond Stereotypes,  Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-17.

Maiden, J, Sinclair, S and Van Nieuvenhuyse (2025) ‘How can the clippings be used in educational contexts? Lessons from the RETOPEA project’ in Karel Van Nieuwenhuyse, John Maiden and Stefanie Sinclair (eds.) Teaching and Learning about Religious Diversity in the Past and Present: Beyond Stereotypes,  Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 183-202.

Sinclair, S. (2022) 'Religiöse Toleranz und Frieden: Methodische Ansätze zur Vermittlung von Religionsgeschichte an Jugendliche in Europe (RETOPEA-Projekt)’ in Urszula Pękala (ed.) Die monotheistischen Religionen und ihr Integrationspotential für die heutige Gesellschaft: Perspektiven – Herausforderungen – Lösungsansätze, Stiftung Kreisau für Europäische Verständigung, Krzyżowa (Poland), pp. 146-154. 

Galián, L., Maiden, J. Sinclair, S. and Welker, A. (2022) ‘Refugees and the Politics of Memory: Political discourses of religious toleration and peace’ in Riho Altnurme, Elena Arigita and Patrick Pasture (eds.) Religious Diversity in Europe: Mediating the Past to the Young, Bloomsbury, London/ New York/ Oxford/ New Delhi/ Sydney, pp. 113-58.

Maiden, J., Sinclair, S., Salmesvouri, P., Van Nieuwenhuyse, K. and Wolffe, J. (2022) ‘Views of the Young: Reflections on the basis of European pilot studies’ in Riho Altnurme, Elena Arigita and Patrick Pasture (eds.) Religious Diversity in Europe: Mediating the Past to the Young, Bloomsbury, London/ New York/ Oxford/ New Delhi/ Sydney, pp. 33-50. 

Sinclair, S. (2019) 'Memory and identity: Female leadership and the legacy of Rabbi Regina Jonas' in Hartmut Bomhoff, Denise L. Eger, Kathy Ehrensperger and Walter Homolka (eds.) Gender and Religious Leadership: Women Rabbis, Pastors and Ministers, Lexington Books, pp. 163-179. 

Sinclair, S. (2018) 'Creativity, criticality and engaging the senses: Creating online opportunities for multisensory approaches to learning and assessment in higher education’ in Jacqueline Baxter, George Callaghan and Jean McAvoy (eds.) Creativity and Critique in Online Learning: Exploring and Examining Innovations in Online Pedagogy, Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 103-122.

Sinclair, S. (2018) ‘The introduction and refinement of the assessment of digitally recorded oral presentations’, in Jessica Evans, Sally Jordan and Freda Wolfenden (eds.) Assessment in Open, Distance and e-Learning: Lessons from Practice, Routledge.

Maiden, J. and Sinclair, S. (2018) ‘Personalised and multi-sensory approaches to engaging students at a distance: A case study from Religious Studies’ in Josep M. Duart and András Szűcs (eds) Towards Personalized Guidance and Support for Learning, Proceedings of the 10th European Distance and E-Learning Network Research Workshop, EDEN, Barcelona, pp. 261-269.[Online] Available at http://www.eden-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/RW10_2018_Barcelona_Proceedings_ISSN.pdf . ISBN 978-615-5511-25-7

Butcher, John, Sinclair, Stefanie and Clarke, Anactoria (2015) 'The challenge of assessing reflection: The Open University's Access programme', in Wendy Miller, Jane Collings and Pauline Kneale (eds.) Inclusive Assessment, PedRIO Paper 7, Pedagogic Research Institute and Observatory (PedRIO), Plymouth, pp. 25-29. Available from: http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/research/pedrio/Documents/PedRIO%20Paper%207.pdf

Sinclair, Stefanie (2014) ‘Assessing oral presentations in open and distance learning’, in Challenges for Research into Open & Distance Learning: Doing things better – doing better things, A. M. Teixera and A. Szűcs (eds.), European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), Oxford, pp.  203-212. ISBN 978-615-5511-00-4

OU module materials:

Sinclair, S. (2019) 'Mary, the mother of Jesus' in A111 Discovering the Arts Past and Present, Block 1 Reputations.

Sinclair, S. (2017) 'Exploring mosques' in A227 Exploring Religion: Places, John Wolffe (ed.), Milton Keynes: The Open Unviersity, pp. 57-106.

Sinclair, S. (2013) ‘Remembering the first female rabbi: Regina Jonas’ in A332 Why is Religion Controversial? Controversial Figures, Edwina Newman (ed.), Milton Keynes: The Open University, pp. 47-97.

Sinclair, S. (2013) ‘Veiling’ in A332 Why Is Religion Controversial? Controversial Practices, Hugh Beattie (ed.), Milton Keynes: The Open University, pp. 47-89.

Sinclair, S. (2013) 'Mystery Zebras in Hackney' Y031 Arts and Languages Access Module: Block 3 Visions of Protest, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Sinclair, S. with Marion Bowman (2013) 'Shiva as Nataraja in the St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art' Y031 Arts and Languages Access Module: Block 3 Visions of Protest, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Sinclair, S. with contributions from Marion Bowman (2006) A217 Introducing Religions: Christianity, Milton Keynes: The Open University, 178pp.

Perryman, L.-A. with A. Duensing and S. Sinclair (2013) 'Picasso's Guernica' Y031 Arts and Languages Access Module: Block 3 Visions of Protest, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Book reviews:

Sinclair, Stefanie (2012) ‘John R. Bowen. Blaming Islam. Cambridge, Mass./ London, MIT Press, 2012’ in Culture and Religion Vol. 13 (4), pp. 495-497.

Sinclair, Stefanie (2011) ‘Leila Ahmed.  A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence from the Middle East to America, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2011’ in Culture and Religion Vol. 12 (4), pp. 501-503.

Sinclair, Stefanie (2011) ‘L. Woodhead, H. Kawanami and C. Partridge (eds.) Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations, 2nd ed., London and New York, Routledge, 2009’ in Culture and Religion, Vol. 12 (1), pp. 107-109.

Lotz , Stefanie (2000), ‘Gregg Kvistad, The Rise and Demise of German Statism: Loyalty and Political membership, Berghahn Books, New York/ Oxford, 1999’, in  European History Quarterly, Vol. 30 (2), pp. 273-276

Project reports:

Sinclair, Stefanie    with L. Clennell, J. Heap, J. Wiggans, J. Austin, M. Lancaster and S. Brierley (2003) The Open Event as a Conversion Tool for New Enquirers, Manchester: The Open University in the North West.

Simmill-Binning, Cheryl, Pearson, J. and Sinclair, S. (2011) Evaluation of the North West Regional PREVENT Education Team Schools Resources Pack, Lancaster University and University of Central Lancashire.

Wilson, Alison and Sinclair, Stefanie (2011) Confidential Inquiry into Drug-Related Deaths in Lancashire 2009/10, Lancaster University, Applied Social Science Unit for Research and Evaluation (ASSURE).

Other:

Maiden, J., Robertson, D., Sinclair, S. and Wolffe, J. (2022), 'Young People and Religion: Creative Learning with History' , Badged Open Course, OpenLearn. 

Sinclair, S. (2022) ‘Digital photography and multisensory learning online’, FASS Centre for Scholarship and Innovation, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at The Open University, Blog post  [Online] March | 2022 | FASS Centre for Scholarship and Innovation (open.ac.uk)

Prideaux, M. and Sinclair, S. (2021) ‘Lessons learned from teaching in a time of Covid’, BASR Bulletin, 139, November (2021), pp. 10-11.

Sinclair, S. (2021) ‘How to run engaging academic conferences online’, FASS Centre for Scholarship and Innovation, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at The Open University,  Blog post [Online] Available at: http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/FASS-Scholarship/how-to-run-engaging-academic-conferences-online/

Sinclair, S. (2019) ‘Trojan Horse: A New Play’, Contemporary Religion in Historical Perspective, Blog post, [Online] Available at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/religious-studies/?paged=2

Sinclair, S. (2018) 'Fostering creativity in higher education: The case for Religious Studies', BASR Bulletin, 132, May, pp. 9-11. [Available online at: https://basr.ac.uk/basr-bulletin-132-may-2018/  ]

Sinclair, S. (2018) ‘3 Minute Theories: Imagined Communities’, Religious Studies at the OU Podcast [Online] Available at https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6urcqp and http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/religious-studies/  

Sinclair, S. (2014) 'OpenLearn: Visions of protest: Graffiti', The Open University [Online] Available at: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/visions-protest-graffiti/content-section-0  .

Sinclair, S. (2013) 'OpenLearn: Veiling', The Open University [Online] Available at: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/veiling/content-section-0.

Sinclair, S. (2012) ‘OpenLearn: What’s the big deal about virginity?’, The Open University. [Online] Available at: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/religious-studies/what-s-the-big-deal-about-virginity).

Sinclair, S. and Harvey, G. (2012) Divine Women, Academic consultant on BBC/OU co-produced TV series (3 x 60mins), first broadcast on BBC 2 in April 2012. 

Sinclair, S. and Harvey, G. (2012) Divine Women, The Open University. (Print item associated with the BBC/OU co-produced TV series ‘Divine Women’).

The Open University (2013) ‘Regina Jonas: the first female rabbi’ iTunesU collection (also available on Open Learn from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/religious-studies/regina-jonas-the-first-female-rabbi).

The Open University (2013) ‘Veiling: Tradition, Identity and Fashion’ iTunesU collection (also available on OpenLearn from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/veiling-tradition-identity-and-fashion).

See Open Research Online for further details of Stefanie Sinclair’s research publications.