- Profile
- Research
Dr David Grumett
Research Interests
David has published widely on modern French Catholic theology, including books on Henri de Lubac and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and articles on Maurice Blondel and Yves de Montcheuil. In his work on de Lubac, David has explored neglected areas including political theology and Christian-Buddhist encounter. He has sought to rehabilitate Teilhard as a Christian theologian situated in the first half of the twentieth century. Through focus on these thinkers, some key thematic and continuing interests have emerged: evolutionary theology, eucharistic cosmology, and the theology of matter.
A more recent area of interest is theology and material practices. The starting point of theology is frequently seen as biblical and doctrinal, with abstract principles developed and subsequently applied to concrete situations. In fact, Christian spirituality, discipline and identity have historically more often been expressed in material practices like food and clothing. Attending to everyday practices allows doctrine and biblical interpretation once again to be situated in their historic material contexts. Moreover, a clear focus on practice engages a wide range of present-day issues such as dieting, obesity, anorexia, modern food economies, and the regulation of clothing in schools and workplaces. These interests have recently been pursued via a research project 'Vegetarianism as Spiritual Choice in Historical and Contemporary Theology', funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Outputs include an edited collection with contributions from philosophers, sociologists, historians, biblical specialists and theologians from the United States and Britain.
Research Supervision
David is pleased to supervise in the areas of theology and material practice, modern French catholic thought, historical theology and philosophical theology. He is particularly keen to hear from propspective students possessing some French and/or German language skills.
