UCD Newman Centre Membership

UCD Newman Centre for the Study of Religions is based in UCD School of Philosophy but has members from across the different Schools and Colleges in UCD, including Archaeology, English, History, Sociology, Social Justice, and Politics and International Relations (SPIRE). The Centre also has members from other Irish and international universities. The Centre's Academic Advisory Board has members from different UCD Schools as well as external stakeholders.

If you are interested in joining the Centre as a member, please email the Director, Dr. Daniel Esmonde Deasy, at daniel.deasy@ucd.ie.

Chair of the Advisory Board

Dermot Moran (Professor Emeritus, UCD School of Philosophy).

Centre Director

Daniel Esmonde Deasy (Associate Professor, UCD School of Philosophy). Research Themes (Projects): Newman Studies (Wittgenstein, Newman, and Hinge Epistemology); Religion & Science.

Project Leaders

Dragos Calma (Associate Professor, UCD School of Philosophy). Project Leader: Medieval Philosophy (2024-); Neoplatonism and Abrahamic Faiths (2018-2023).

Joseph Cohen (Associate Professor, UCD School of Philosophy). Project Leader: Jewish Thought and Contemporary Philosophy.

Daniel Esmonde Deasy (Associate Professor, UCD School of Philosophy). Project Leader: Wittgenstein, Newman, and Hinge Epistemology.

Áine Mahon (Assistant Professor, UCD School of Education). Project Leader: Newman's Philosophy of Education.

Associated UCD Researchers

Angelo Bottone (UCD School of Philosophy, Newman Trust & Newman Society). Research Theme: Newman Studies.

Gent Cakaj (UCD School of Philosophy). Research Theme: Religion and Philosophy. 

Sarah Carol (Assistant Professor, UCD School of Sociology). Research Theme (Project): Religion & Society (Islam in Ireland).

Maeve Cooke (Full Professor, UCD School of Philosophy). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Kevin Costello (Associate Professor, UCD Sutherland School of Law). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Cathy Darling (UCD School of Philosophy): UCD Newman Studies MA Researcher (2023-2025). Research Theme: Newman Studies.

Stephen Davis (Assistant Professor, UCD School of Archaeology: Research Theme. Religion & Society.

Vincent Durac (Associate Professor, UCD School of Politics and International Relations). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Bryan Fanning (Professor of Migration and Social Policy, UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Tasneem Filaih (School Manager, UCD School of Classics). Research Theme (Project): Religion & Society (Islam in Ireland). 

Niamh Howlin (Associate Professor, UCD Sutherland School of Law). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Cosmas Iyamu (PhD Candidate in Newman Studies, UCD School of Education). Research Theme (Project): Newman Studies (Newman's Philosophy of Education).

Sergey Katsuba (PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, UCD Sutherland School of Law). Research Theme: Religion & Science.

Sara Benedí Lahuerta (Associate Professor, UCD Sutherland School of Law). Research Theme (Project): Religion & Society (Islam in Ireland).

John McCafferty (Professor, UCD School of History). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Katherine O'Donnell (Professor of Philosophy, UCD). Research Themes: Religion & Society; Newman Studies (Newman's Philosophy of Education).

Tadhg O'Keeffe (Professor, UCD School of Archaeology). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Alan Peatfield (UCD School of Archaeology). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Colin Scott (Professor, Registrar/Deputy President/Vice President for Academic Affairs). Research Theme: Newman Studies.

Iarfhlaith Watson (Associate Professor, UCD School of Sociology). Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Associated International Researchers

Garrick Allen (Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism, Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Glasgow): Research Theme: Religion & Society.

Rafael Valencia Candalija (Associate Professor, University of Seville): Research Theme: Religion & Society.

James Carr (Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology, University of Limerick; Principal Investigator for Sustainable Alliances Against Anti-Muslim Hatred (SALAAM) project): Research Theme (Project): Religion & Society (Islam in Ireland).

Dante Clementi (Research Fellow, Centre for Philosophy of Religion, University of Notre Dame): Research Theme: Religion and Philosophy. 

Sarah Coakley (Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity (Emerita), University of Cambridge; Honorary Professor at the Logos Institute, St Andrews University; Honorary Professor at the Australian Catholic University; Fellow of the British Academy): Research Theme: Religion and Science. 

Annalisa Coliva (Chancellor Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Irvine): Research Theme (Project): Newman Studies (Wittgenstein, Newman, and Hinge Epistemology).

Roja Fazaeli (Established Professor of Law and Islamic Studies at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, University of Galway): Research Theme (Project): Religion & Society (Islam in Ireland).

Finola Kennedy (former Lecturer at University College Dublin and the Institute of Public Administration; served on a number of Boards including the Housing Finance Agency (chairman), ACC Bank and the Railway Procurement Agency; was a member of the Review Group on the Constitution and the Commission on the Status of Women): Research Theme: Newman Studies (Newman's Philosophy of Education).

Edmund M. Lazzari (Teaching Fellow, Assistant Coordinator of External Programs, Department of Catholic Studies, Duquesne University): Research Theme: Religion and Philosophy. 

Davide Marino (PhD Candidate in Church History, Pontifical Gregorian University): Research Theme: Newman Studies.

Francesco Quatrini (Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Religious History and Heritage, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam): Research Theme: Religion and Society.

Dermot Roantree (Editor, Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review): Research Themes: Newman Studies (Newman's Philosophy of Education); Religion and Society.

Philipp Rosemann (Cottrill-Rolfes Chair, University of Kentucky): Research Theme: Religion and Philosophy.

Genia Schönbaumsfeld (Professor of Philosophy, University of Southampton): Research Theme (Project): Newman Studies (Wittgenstein, Newman, and Hinge Epistemology).

Dr. Ahmed Mohamed M.Abdelkawy Sheir (Visiting Research Fellow, TCD Near & Middle Eastern Studies): Research Theme (Project): Religion & Society (Islam in Ireland).

Paul Shrimpton (Magdalen College School, Oxford; Independent Newman Scholar): Research Theme: Newman Studies (Newman's Philosophy of Education).