Canon Dr Sanjee Perera is a Cognitive Psychologist and Theologian and serves as the lecturer in Mission and Evangelism at Cranmer Hall. Find out more about her work and what drew her to Cranmer Hall and St John’s.
Tell us a little about your professional background
I have held academic teaching roles for almost all of my working life, over the last three decades. I am a Developmental Cognitive psychologist with an expertise in Psychology of religion, identity, moral judgment capacity in violent context. But in the last decade or so, I have worked in interdisciplinary contexts including the Law faculty (OU), Philosophy, Theology & Religion (University of Birmingham), Centre for Trust, Peace & social Relations (Coventry University). But my last formal role was as a policy specialist working for the Church of England as the Archbishops’ Adviser for Minority Ethnic Concerns.
What drew you to Cranmer Hall and St John’s College in particular?
As a part of my last role, I visited Cranmer and other Theological Education Institutes often as a guest lecturer, and I have enjoyed the privilege of being a fellow of the Theology dept for about 5 years and loved visiting Durham to give various lectures. When the Missiology role at Cranmer hall was offered to me, it seemed a rather wonderful opportunity to lend a hand to an inspiring venture. The pedagogy at Cranmer Hall and St John’s is such an extraordinary blend of the traditional and the pioneering cutting edge. Our students come from a variety of traditions, denominations and pathways exploring an eclectic variety of learning experiences. The day-to-day life in this small friendly community is warm, welcoming and there is particular charm to working in a space that is a UNESCO world heritage site where scholarship has flourished for a millennium.
What are some of the biggest opportunities or challenges in your area of work at the moment?
From the secular academy to the public square, the world in the 21st century increasingly underestimates religious faith as an evolutionary by-product that is waning, little understanding the ebb and flow of its currents. While the British Social Attitudes survey reports that the majority of our population claims to have no faith, and of the 38% who identify as Christian very few engage in regular church worship, psychological research suggests that they feel a sense of loss in this disenfranchisement from traditional church engagement. I believe Theological colleges need to reconsider how it approaches Mission & Evangelism and I am excited to be a part of these efforts as a lecturer in missiology, revitalising the Church.
