Research Projects Focusing on Non-Religiosity

Dr Joanna Malone is exploring what spiritual care and flourishing looks like in later life for non-religious older adults.

Dr Joanna Malone is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Sociology at the University of York. Malone is the principal investigator of ‘Living and Dying Well in Old Age: Spiritual Needs in a Non-Religious Future’. Her work investigates how changing religious landscapes impact upon the spiritual, emotional, and pastoral needs of older adults who are non-religious and how ideas around flourishing and living and dying ‘well’ are shifting. For the rapidly growing numbers of those outside traditional institutional religions, knowledge about what constitutes a ‘good life’ and ‘good death’ remains under-researched. This research aims to investigate spiritual, emotional, and other pastoral needs in later life in relation to non-religious worldviews, how these shape perceptions of what it means to live living and dying ‘well’ old age.

Dr Metin Koca is exploring the experiences of individuals who become 'religious nones' in predominantly Muslim societies such as Turkey.

Dr Metin Koca is a British Academy International Fellow in Sociology at the University of York. Koca is the principal investigator of 'Nonversion: The Conversion of Young Turks to Non-Religion', a research project examining young individuals’ religious disaffiliation in Turkey. Koca examines the emergence of non-religious identities, practices, and worldviews among young people in Turkey despite the government’s efforts to cultivate a “pious generation.” His Research explores the international politics of culture, the dynamics of cultural change and reproduction, and the politics of recognition, tolerance, and difference. Addressing several gaps in scholarship on secularity and Islamism in predominantly Muslim societies, the study employs digital ethnography and in-depth interviews to explore how young individuals interpret and communicate their shift away from religious beliefs.