Theology and Religious Studies Symposium: farewell to Kevin Ward

In September Dr. Kevin Ward, Senior Lecturer in African Religious Studies, will embark on his final semester of teaching at Leeds, as he will retire in February 2014.

There will be a farewell symposium for Kevin on Thursday 23 January, addressing the theme of Dynamics of Religion and Sexuality in Contemporary Africa. All are invited to attend this day-long symposium.

Born in Leeds, Kevin studied history at Edinburgh and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He spent twenty years working in East Africa, as a teacher and theological educator. He is a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, representing the Northern Universities.

Dr Ward did his original research in Kenya, examining the problems of Protestant Christian ecumenical cooperation in colonial Kenya. He has continued to have a strong interest in East Africa, focusing on the history and spirituality of the East African Revival movement, church-state relations in Uganda, and the religious basis of conflict in Uganda.

He has written on issues of sexuality in an African context, particularly in the light of the present Anglican crisis over homosexuality and he recently completed a book for Cambridge University Press, A History of the World Anglican Communion.