Dr Ian Draper.
Dr Draper is a retired lecturer of Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham, where he is also an Honorary Research Fellow.
He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham and specialises in the area of contemporary Sufi movements. An overview of Dr Drapers research career and interests is provided below:
Career Overview:
Dr Ian Draper has a BA in Humanities from the University of the West of England (Bristol) and an MA and PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham; my doctoral thesis was on ethnography and contemporary Sufism in Europe. He worked from 1995 until 2016 at the University of Birmingham, initially as a Research Assistant on the British Muslims Monthly Survey, and then subsequently as a Research Fellow on an ESRC project on Transnational Sufism and as a Teaching Fellow. He was appointed as Lecturer in Islam and Contemporary Religion from 2006, teaching on a range of modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including: Sufism, Contemporary Sufi Movements, Cyber Religion, New Age & Alternative Spiritualities, and Buddhism. From January 2017 until December 2018, he worked as a part-time adviser/consultant on an educational project at the Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Morocco. He is currently engaged with an academic publishing project while completing an MA in Buddhist Studies at the University of South Wales.
Education and Qualifications:
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BA (Hons) in Humanities: University of Bristol.
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MA in Theology (Islam): University of Birmingham.
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PGCE Secondary Religious Education: University of Birmingham.
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PhD in Islamic Studies: University of Birmingham.
Research:
My primary research and writing is in the area of contemporary Sufi movements and western esotericism, particularly from an ethnographic perspective and especially in the British context. I am currently working for a publishing house while studying part-time for an MA in Buddhist Studies.