REGENT’S NOW ALUMNI AND FRIENDS
Alumni Answers I n Alumni Answers we want to learn more about our alumni and where life has taken them after graduation - and what better way to feed one’s curiosity than asking questions! In 2021 it was reported the number of school pupils in the UK taking Religious Studies at A-level had risen 6.1%, suggesting that a
Didi (Ogede) El-Mawas
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idi (Ogede) El-Mawas (Theology, 2009) is Research and Insight Lead at the Chartered Governance Institute for UK and Ireland, where she leads the Business and Market Research Programme providing evidence-based strategic input to develop products and services that connect to market needs and interests within the broader business environment. How did she find herself an undergraduate at Regent’s studying for a degree in theology? ‘Regent’s was my first choice. To give a bit of background, I found myself really interested in religion and moral philosophy at secondary school, and a good relationship with one of my tutors helped me because he really pushed me even to consider studying theology and philosophy at university. He was the one who told me that it was possible for me, because I had thought Oxford was a bit out of my reach. Through his wife, who had
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past decline is now being reversed as young people increasingly recognise the value of this subject. A topic on which we know many of our alumni would have important insight, we asked three alumni to tell us about their time at Oxford and beyond, and to answer the question ‘Why study theology?’
gone to Oxford, he had connections with Regent’s and he told me how great it was for theology so I thought, if I was going to study theology, that was the place to be.’ Despite initial reservations about fitting in at Oxford, she found that the warm and open nature of the Regent’s tutors helped her feel at ease. ‘I sort of had this image of scary Oxford dons, but they were more human and down to earth than I imagined, so that was great. I felt that I could be free to talk with them and share my ideas. I threw myself into everything that was Regent’s - I headed up the College netball and croquet teams. I hadn’t played croquet before, but then found myself captain!’ Of course, Regent’s wasn’t only fun and games, it was also a challenging and exciting academic experience. ‘The benefits of studying theology are immense because it will give you knowledge and understanding of diverse philosophies and beliefs, and of the nature of belief and where that comes from, the different types of religious faiths around the world and how they connect and the common themes that run through them... it helps you understand people because at the heart of every individual is a belief system, whether they have a specific religious belief in a higher power or not. So, it’s understanding that and being able to appreciate people, their faith and the motivation for their actions, which I think are such invaluable skills for life.’ Didi also believes that studying theology has led her to excel in her career. ‘It has really been invaluable for me and my approach to research. I take a human-centred approach that is all about connecting with the customers’ views and instilling that within product development,
and that goes back again to what I was saying about theology helping you to understand people, and it’s really important to be able to ask tough questions because that’s where you get the real insight. Being at Regent’s has given me the mindset, the confidence and the ability to be able to do that, and to think beyond the narrow box.’
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r Bradley Onishi (MPhil Theology, 2005) is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Skidmore College in New York. Together with Regent’s alumnus Dan Miller (DPhil Theology, 2003), he co-hosts Straight White American Jesus (straightwhiteamericanjesus.com), a podcast on religion and politics affiliated with the Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life at University of California, Santa Barbara. If you expect Brad, a professor of Religious Studies, to have a great pitch for studying theology, then you won’t be disappointed. ‘If you want to teach Religious Education or to be a scholar at the university level, then studying theology is an obvious path. It’s a privilege to think and read books and discuss ideas – that’s a very privileged life, no matter how it plays out. Now, most folks who study theology or religion aren’t going to end up teaching, so why do it? The skills of critical thinking, of analysis, of reading, of looking at systems as a whole and being able to dissect the blind spots and the weak parts of an infrastructure or an approach to a problem, these are things that everyone from Google to your local non-profit value, and a degree in theology trains you to do those things.’
