Dr Josh Bullock

Contact

Josh Bullock
About
Teaching and learning
Research
Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact
Image gallery

About

I am a senior lecturer in criminology and sociology. My research predominantly focuses on nonreligion, but I am interested in how and where people find a sense of connection, as well as what values and beliefs people hold (especially Millennials). 

My latest research project (2023-24) "Weekday Worldviews: The Patrons, Promise and Payoff of Psychic Nights in England" is the first sociological investigation of the relationships between worldviews and psychological wellbeing amongst those attending public psychic/séance events in England. The project offers a unique look at a grassroots phenomenon using mixed methods (survey, observation, interview, comparison), analysing patterns of belief and their implication for understanding the relationship between science, spirituality, and wellbeing.

I have contributed to mapping the diversity of people who say they have no religion on the Understanding Unbelief project by using surveys, social media, and interview data, travelling to six countries (UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Norway, and Romania) across 25 towns and cities.

My previous research has focused on nationalism, religion, and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as vaccine hesitancy with publications in Nature, PLOS ONE, Culture and Religion and The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe.

I was awarded best lecturer and best use of technology 2021 in the School of Law and Social and Behavioural Sciences, Student Awards. I was awarded runner-up best dissertation supervisor 2022 at Kingston University.

Academic responsibilities

Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology

Qualifications

  • PhD, Kingston University, London
  • MSc Social and Cultural Theory, University of Bristol
  • BA Media and Cultural Studies and Sociology, The University of the West of England

Teaching and learning

I teach on the following modules: Crime, Law and Justice, Classical Social Theory in a Contemporary World (Level 4), Crime on Screen, Researching Law and Society (Level 5), and Sociology/Criminology dissertations (Level 6). 

Qualifications and expertise

  • Fellow (FHEA)

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

2023 - 2024

Project: Weekday Worldviews: The Patrons, Promise and Payoff of Psychic Nights in England, £19,518.00 plus additional funding of £2815 awarded by Kingston University.

Role: Co.I. Funder: International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society

Project: "True crime obsession" and its socio-psychological effect on anxiety, fear, and perception of the English and Welsh Criminal Justice System £2104

Role: P.I. Funder: Kingston University

2021 - 2022

Project: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy, £1000

Role: P.I. Funder: Kingston University

2020 - 2023

Project: Nonreligion, Values and European Migration, £6530

Role: P.I. Funder: Kingston University

2018-2019

Project: 'Reaching for a New Sense of Connection? Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Sociality of Generation Y Non-Believers in Northern and Central Europe.' £99,993

Role: Co-investigator, postdoctoral researcher. Funder: The Templeton Foundation

Qualifications and expertise

  • University of Amsterdam Digital Research Methods Winter School 2018

Areas of specialism

  • Religion
  • Nonreligion
  • Research methods
  • Belief
  • Belonging

Publications

Jump to: Article | Book Section | Conference or Workshop Item | Thesis
Number of items: 23.

Article

Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin E., Mikloušić, Igor and Shults, F. LeRon (2023) Modeling nationalism, religiosity, and threat perception : during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE, 18(4), e0281002. ISSN (online) 1932-6203

Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin E. and Shults, F. LeRon (2022) What causes COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy? Ignorance and the lack of bliss in the United Kingdom. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9, p. 87. ISSN (online) 2662-9992

Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin.E, Mikloušić, Igor and Shults, LeRon (2020) Modelling threat causation for religiosity and Nationalism in Europe. arXiv,

Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2020) Reaching for a new sense of connection : soft atheism and 'patch and make do' spirituality amongst nonreligious European millennials. Culture and Religion, 21(2), pp. 157-177. ISSN (print) 1475-5610

Book Section

Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2022) The diversity of nonreligion : meaning-making, activism and towards a theory of nonreligious identity and group formation. In: Zwilling, Anne-Laure and Arsheim, Helge, (eds.) Nonreligion in late modern societies. Cham, Switzerland : Springer. (Boundaries of religious freedom : regulating religion in diverse societies) ISSN (print) 2214-5281 ISBN 9783030923945

Bullock, Josh and Bullivant, Stephen (2021) Non-religion and Europe. In: Davie, Grace and Leustean, Lucian N., (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press. pp. 551-567. ISBN 9780198834267

Conference or Workshop Item

Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David (2021) Soft atheism and 'patch and make do' spirituality amongst nonreligious European millennials. In: Beyond Binaries in the Sociology of Religion : British Sociological Association : Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference; 13 - 15 Jul 2021, Held online. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh (2020) The relationships between religiosity, nationalism, and anti-immigrant sentiment? A preliminary simulation. In: 11th Annual Faculty Research Conference: Contemporary Issues in Business and Social Science Research; 22 Jun 2020, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David (2019) 'Nones' in the populist public sphere : non-believing and belonging amongst millennials in Poland and Romania. In: Fragile Europe : 5th Midterm Conference; 02 - 03 Nov 2018, Prague, Czech Republic. (Unpublished)

Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2019) Reaching for a new sense of connection? The sociality of nonreligion in Europe in Europe. In: Religion – Continuations and Disruptions: 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions; 25 - 29 Jun 2019, Tartu, Estonia. (Unpublished)

Bullivant, Stephen and Bullock, Josh (2019) Nonreligion and Europe. In: Religion – Continuations and Disruptions: 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions; 25 - 29 Jun 2019, Tartu, Estonia. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David (2019) Reaching for a new sense of connection? The sociality of nonreligion in Europe. In: Cultures of unbelief; 28 - 30 May 2019, Rome, Italy. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David (2018) Reaching for a new sense of connection? From Truro to Transylvania. In: Formatting nonreligion in late modern societies : institutional and legal perspectives.; 26 - 28 Sep 2018, Oslo, Norway. (Unpublished)

Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2018) Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe : an early analysis. In: Borders and boundaries : 'Religion' on the periphery; 03 – 05 Sep 2018, Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David (2018) Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe : an early analysis. In: Religion and Education; 10 - 12 July 2018, Glasgow, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2018) Reaching for a new sense of connection? Towards a deeper understanding of the sociality of Generation Y non-believers in Northern and Central Europe. In: Understanding Unbelief Workshop; 02 - 04 Jul 2018, Canterbury, Kent. (Unpublished)

Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2018) Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe : an early analysis. In: Worldviews in World View : Particularizing Secularism, Secularity and Nonreligion; 05 - 06 Jul 2018, London, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh (2018) Sunday assembly : a ‘radically inclusive’ congregation? In: British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Response Day : Faiths & Civil Society: Building Bridges or Walls?; 02 May 2018, London, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh (2017) Understanding Sunday Assembly rituals through a post-Christian lens. In: SSSR/RRA 2017 Annual Meeting; 12 - 14 Oct 2017, Washington, DC, U.S.. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh (2017) Studying the Sunday Assembly through a post-Christian lens. In: On the Edge? Centres and Margins in the Sociology of Religion; 12 -14 Jul 2017, Leeds, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh (2016) Reimagining the secular : the Sunday assembly – belonging without believing. In: “The Diversity of Nonreligion” Closing Conference & NSRN Annual Conference 2016; 07 – 09 Jul 2016, Zurich, Switzerland. (Unpublished)

Bullock, Josh (2015) The Sunday Assembly : creating community among the nonreligious. In: Foundations and Futures : British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference; 07 – 09 Jul 2015, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Thesis

Bullock, Josh (2018) The sociology of the Sunday assembly : 'belonging without believing' in a post-Christian context. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .

This list was generated on Wed Sep 13 07:14:34 2023 BST.

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

I have worked  with REToday to produce publications used in the UK secondary school curriculum. Research from my Understanding Unbelief research project helped to illustrate the reality of lived religious and non-religious experience in the UK and Europe. 

  • https://www.retoday.org.uk/school-support/publications/samples/secondary-curriculum-book-new/ 

Social media

Academia LinkedIn Twitter