Supporting Philosophy, Theology,
Please note that as of the 1st of August 2011 the Subject Centre for PRS entered a 5 month transition phase prior to its closure on the 31st of December 2011. Most pages on this website are no longer being updated, apart from resources from the last academic year's activities.
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Dr Gary Bunt
BA (Hons) (Kent at Canterbury), MA (Durham), PhD (Wales)
Subject Co-ordinator (& Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies)
+44 (0)1570 422351
Gary is based at the Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, where he is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies. He also works for the Subject Centre as Academic Coordinator, having been involved with the Centre since its inception in 2000.
Gary's role(s) with the Subject Centre have included organizing and instigating a variety of events for the Subject Centre, including: chairing a South Asian Studies workshop at the University of Manchester (2002); co-organizing the international 'Religious Studies - What's the Point?' conference at the University of Lancaster (2004); instigating, co-organizing and providing papers for an international 'Islam in Higher Education Conference' at the University of Birmingham (2005), and for a 'Studying Islam after 9-11' workshop (2002); he chaired sessions at the 'Theology versus Religious Studies Conference', at the University of Oxford (2006) and at numerous other events. As well as writing articles on these events, Gary has provided position papers on widening participation and disability issues, and on learning and teaching issues (including plagiarism and widening access). He organized the 'Practical Theology in Higher Education' conference. He is series editor for the 'Faith Guides for Higher Education' series published by the Subject Centre.
Gary edited (with Lisa Bernasek) the International approaches to Islamic Studies in higher education report for HEFCE (Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies & Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, 2008). The report examines the historical development and current state of Islamic Studies in eight countries: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, Malaysia and Turkey. It also presents perspectives on recent developments in Islamic Studies and the responses of governments, policy makers and funding bodies; interactions between institutions of higher education and faith-based organisations and communities; and case studies that highlight examples of innovative practice in relation to Islamic Studies in higher education. The report was commissioned by HEFCE to inform its activities relating to Islamic Studies, which was designated a Strategically Important Subject in June 2007. Gary has been involved in the Higher Education Academy’s subsequent developmental and consultation work on Islamic Studies. He facilitated (with Mike Kelly) a session on ‘Networks, Focus and Discipline Issues within Islamic Studies’ for the 2008 HEFCE event, ‘Islamic studies: the way forward in the UK’. He also edited (with Lisa Bernasek) Islamic Studies Provision in the UK, Report to HEFCE by the Higher Education Academy (HEFCE, 2010). This report presents an analysis of data on the provision of teaching in Islamic studies at UK higher education institutions. It is based on data collected for 1,101 modules in Islamic studies and related disciplines identified at 110 of 161 institutions investigated. The desk-based research, commissioned by HEFCE, investigated teaching in Islamic studies at all 156 degree-awarding bodies listed by the then Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, as well as at four Muslim institutions and one other institution providing modules that lead to degrees validated by publicly funded institutions. Gary facilitated a workshop at the inaugural Islamic Studies Network event in Birmingham, as part of his contribution to the Islamic Studies Network's activities. He attended the 2010 World Congress of Middle East Studies conference in Barcelona on behalf of the Network. He is also developing a new edited book on Islam in Religious Studies for the subject centre.
Gary has lectured at the Department of Theology, Religious Studies & Islamic Studies, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (previously University of Wales Lampeter), since 1996: his undergraduate modules include 'Islam', 'The Life of Muhammad', 'Sira and Society', 'Islam and the West', and 'Islam in the Contemporary World'. He is Director of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David's MA Islamic Studies distance learning programme, for which he has written modules on 'Islam Today', ‘Study Skills for Islamic Studies’, 'Muslim Networks' and 'Muslim Politics'. He has written an MA module on 'Studying Religions on the Internet'. He supervises a number of postgraduates in the UK and overseas. He has worked on widening participation, accessibility and assessment issues for the University. He has acted as an External Examiner and Moderator for universities and institutions in the UK. He is a member of the British Association for the Study of Religions and is a Council member for the British Society of Middle Eastern Studies.
His most recent book is iMuslims: Rewiring the House of Islam, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, London: C. Hurst & Co., Kuala Lumpur: The Other Place, New Delhi: Cambridge University Press/Foundation Press, 2009). This was described as “an excellent guide to the emergence of "specific forms of online Islam"" (Ziauddin Sardar, The Independent). Professor John Esposito wrote: "iMuslims will be welcomed by all who want to understand the impact of the Internet on Islam and the Muslim world today. Gary Bunt, leading expert on Islam, provides a fascinating picture of the Internet as a vehicle for transformation of mainstream Islam as well as a propaganda and recruitment tool for militants."
Gary’s other books are Islam in the Digital Age: E-Jihad, Online Fatwas and Cyber Islamic Environments, (London and New York: Pluto Press/Macmillan, 2003), Virtually Islamic: Computer-Mediated Communication and Cyber-Islamic Environments, (Cardiff & Chicago: University of Wales Press/University of Chicago Press, 2000/2003 and Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002), and The Good Web Guide to World Religions (London: The Good Web Guide, 2001). As well as presenting his work at international conferences, he has contributed chapters and articles for a number of other publications, including (most recently), 'Surfing the App Souq' (Cyber Orient, 2010) 'The Digital Umma', chapter in A Companion to The Muslim World, edited by Amyn B. Sajoo, (London & New York: IB Tauris/Institute of Ismaili Studies/Macmillan, 2009), 'L'islam digitale (Internet)', chapter in Le religioni e il mondo moderno III. Islam, edited by Giovanni Filoramo, Roberto Tottoli (Torino: Einaudi, Grandi Opere, 2009), and the 'Religion and the Internet' chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Peter B. Clarke (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology, 2009). He has new work in-preparation on Muslims in Britain. Gary's website - containing Islamic Studies resources, a blog, and related research materials - can be found at