Dr Susannah Cornwall
Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Lincoln Theological Institute. Dr. Cornwall's current research encompasses the interactions between intersex conditions and faith identity, and the implications of intersex for church policy on sex and gender.
Location: Samuel Alexander Building WG19C
Tel: 44 (0) 161.275.3736
Email: susannah.cornwall@manchester.ac.uk
The following is her description of her research to date:
My research to date has focused on the difference that context makes to theology, particularly in terms of unusual forms of embodiment such as intersex, transgender and disability. I am also interested in theology and art, and past projects include an examination of the resurrection paintings of Stanley Spencer, and paintings depicting the Apocryphal story of Susanna and the Elders. I continue to be interested in the interactions between contested identities and modes of reading, including feminist, postcolonial, liberation, and queer theologies.
I am the author of Sex and Uncertainty in the Body of Christ: Intersex Conditions and Christian Theology (Equinox Press, 2010) and Controversies in Queer Theology (SCM Press, 2011) as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters on gender, sexuality and embodiment. I am currently writing a textbook on theology and sexuality for SCM’s Core Texts series.
My other recent research has included a project on homelessness and contextual Bible study (with Revd Dr David Nixon at the University of Exeter, funded by a British Academy Small Research Grant of which I was grantholder), and a project on how art might be used as a tool for rethinking the way the Bible is read in secondary school RE teaching (with Prof Esther Reed and Dr Rob Freathy at the University of Exeter).
In my current project with the Lincoln Theological Institute, I am returning to the theme of intersex, the focus of my PhD research (University of Exeter, 2004-2007). I am conducting empirical work on the faith community affiliations of Christian intersex people in Britain, and exploring how their experiences might be used to inform church policy on gender and lead to improved spiritual and pastoral care for intersex people.