The Professor CSP Hunter scholarships – 2025 recipients (in order of when they were awarded)
This pages introduces the recipients of the 2025 The Professor CSP Hunter scholarship recipients. There is a separate page for the eligbility criteria, and you can see the list of the 2024 recipients too.
Dr Alinda Damsma
Dr Alinda Damsma is a Lecturer (Teaching) in Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic as well as Deputy Head of Department in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at UCL. I received my Bachelor and Master of Divinity from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (2003) and my PhD from the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, UCL (2008). After my PhD I conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge and UCL. Before I re-joined UCL in 2019, I taught Hebrew/Aramaic at King’s College London, Leo Baeck College, and the University of Oxford.
Dr Damsma explained
My current research focuses on the use of Aramaic in kabbalistic writings. In addition, I am working on a monograph which examines the role and the impact of the Bible on the early modern witch-hunts.
Since my PhD years (2004-2008) I have very frequently borrowed books and accessed journals from Heythrop’s impressive library collection, first in Heythrop College itself, when it was located in Kensington, and since 2019 via Senate House Library. I am particularly grateful for its wide range of biblical commentaries and primary and secondary sources that deal with the reception history of the Bible in Christianity, especially in the patristic and scholastic traditions. For my most recent academic research I have become very reliant on the library collection of Heythrop College because I am examining the perception of magic, divination, and witchcraft in the Christian reception history of the Bible, ranging from the early Church Fathers to the times of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Since my early postgraduate days my research has greatly benefited from the continual access to the unique range of Heythrop Library and I hope to resort to its collection for many more years to come.
Dr Michael Hahn
Dr Michael Hahn is the Dom Gregory Dix Lecturer in Christian Spirituality where he leads the postgraduate programmes in that area. He is a scholar of mystical theology, the medieval Church and the Franciscan traditions. Alongside many articles and chapters, Michael is Senior Editor of the journal Franciscan Studies.
Dr Hahn wrote:
Heythrop’s library has a long-standing history as being a major repository of Catholic theological, philosophical and historical texts. In this past year, access to the library has been invaluable for writing my chapter for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Medieval Franciscan Thought, particularly in accessing Camilla Batista da Varano’s texts.
Dr Sarah Pawlett Jackson
Dr Sarah Pawlett Jackson is Tutor in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics on the Divinity Programme at the University of London and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Roehampton. Her primary research interests are in Phenomenology, Intersubjectivity and Philosophy of Religion. She has previously taught at Heythrop College, Oxford University Department for Continuing Education and St Mellitus College.
Dr Pawlett Jackson wrote:
The Heythrop Library has been a wonderful resource for me over the last two years – I regularly make use of the library’s collection for my research – in Philosophy, Theology and Spirituality. The Heythrop Library has also been for me a helpful work space and an academic community. I am grateful for the ongoing help that this scholarship therefore enables.
Dr Michael Tang
I am Dr. Chee Man Tang, Programme Coordinator for Parish Development and Renewal at the Diocese of Southwark, Committee Representative for the Society for the Study of Theology, and award-winning theological scholar specializing in music theology. Recent recognition includes the Graduate Student Paper Prize from the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music (2025) and where I competed against international submissions including those from Ivy League institutions.
Dr Tang explained:
My research investigates instrumental music across various genres, exploring how textless musical expression creates authentic spiritual encounters beyond traditional liturgical frameworks. This scholarship provides essential access to Heythrop Library’s distinguished collections in mystical theology, philosophical aesthetics, and patristic resources—materials crucial for advancing both my academic contributions to theological aesthetics and my practical work in parish revitalization and contemporary spiritual formation.
Dr Kathryn Wills
I am a researcher in Literature and theology, interested in social justice, feminist theology, and Climate Change and am a member of Las Casas, the Dominican Research Institute; I have edited an edition of The International Journal of the Study of the Christian Church on Christianity and Climate Change.
I have just published in The Scottish Episcopal Journal on Gender, Liturgy, and LGBTQ+ issues. To follow, I will participate in a colloquium on Gender and Liturgy in Edinburgh, and present papers on Yeats and theology in Dublin.
Dr Wills wrote:
The Heythrop library has helped greatly in informing my new book – The Breath of God: Bonnefoy, Shakespeare, and Divine Wisdom. It explores the translations of Shakespeare by Bonnefoy in the context of existing Theology and Shakespeare research, within the framework of the Wisdom Tradition as suggested by Paul Fiddes. As an unwaged scholar, I have found being welcomed and encouraged to research in the library to be invaluable.
Dr Suki Finn
I have a PhD in Philosophy and am a Lecturer at Royal Holloway University of London. My research in applied metaphysics is internationally recognised, and I have published two books, Women of Ideas (OUP, 2021) and What’s in a Doughnut Hole? and other philosophical food for thought (Icon, 2026). For more information, see https://www.sukifinn.com/
Dr Finn explained:
I am fascinated by the emptiness of nothing and the totality of everything, from Kabbalistic and Buddhist perspectives. A Professor CSP Hunter Scholarship would enable access to niche resources in these areas and afford a working space which I would utilise for researching my next book on this topic.
Dr Stephen Dolan
Working to grow the presence of Catholic university education in Scotland, with a background in political theology and Catholic Social Thought, I am an ambitious junior scholar working to establish a research portfolio in Catholic political thought alongside establishing research networks and conferences on Catholic theology and emerging technology/AI.
Dr Dolan explained:
Moving into a new stage of my academic career, I am looking to focus on Catholic political thought, especially around the social teaching of the Church. This scholarship would allow me to expand my academic horizons while also helping me promote catholic academic and theological literature in Scotland.