Dr Robert Heimburger

Publication

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Research

My research explores ethics, Christianity, theology, politics, and law.

Migration, ethics, and theology

My book, God and the ‘Illegal Alien’: United States Immigration Law and a Theology of Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2018), questions the circumstances that led so many to be deemed ‘illegal aliens’. The book explores U.S. legal history and responds with biblical and theological reflections on what it is to be an alien church, a nation, a humble guard of territory, and a recipient of mercy from neighbours. My latest article on migration, with Victor Carmona, examines Church of England and US Roman Catholic bishops’ teaching on migration in the era of Brexit and Trump, 2015–19.

Forgiveness after conflict

My research with Fe y Desplazamiento, the Faith and Displacement Project at the Seminario Bíblico de Colombia (FUSBC), includes, with Christopher M. Hays and Guillermo Mejía-Castillo, ‘Forgiveness and Politics: Reading Matthew 18:21-35 with Survivors of Armed Conflict in Colombia’ (HTS Theological Studies, 2019). I co-authored curricula that are used around Colombia to enable the wellbeing of those forced from home by conflict and other forces. This work was funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

Ethics in the Book of Acts

I am asking what the Book of Acts has to say about ethics and politics today for a new book.

Dementia care and Indigenous and diaspora communities

I am involved in research on dementia care and practical theology among Gunadule Indigenous communities in Panama and African Caribbean communities in Britain. I am collaborating with John Swinton and Jocabed Reina Solano Miselis on ‘“We Take Care of Our Own”’: A Theological Ethnographic Exploration of the Experience of Caregiving in the Context of Dementia Across Two Cultures’, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Teaching

I teach the following undergraduate modules:

• The Good Life: Discussions in Religious and Theological Ethics
• Guided Study in Religion and Theology

I contribute teaching on the following undergraduate modules:

• The Origins and Legacies of Religion in the Modern World
• Advanced Guided Study in Religion and Theology (Dissertation)
• A World Full of Gods

I supervise undergraduate guided studies and dissertations.

As Programme Co-Convenor for Ancient History and Religion, I coordinate teaching across the BA in Religion and Theology, the BA in Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics, and BA degrees in Ancient History.

I am a Fellow of Advance Higher Education (Advance HE).

In past roles at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Oxford, I taught Christian ethics, moral philosophy, theology, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and the Bible in art, film, literature, and music to undergraduate and master’s students.

With Samuel Efraín Murillo Torres and James Wesly Sam, I wrote about the experience of chairing a postgraduate research seminar on Christian ethics beyond Europe and North America.

I was nominated by Cardiff University students for Most Outstanding Learning Experience, Most Impactful and Outstanding Use of Assessment as Learning, and Champion for Student Voice and Partnership in the Enriching Student Life Awards.

I was nominated for Best Postgraduate Taught Lecturer by students at the University of Aberdeen.

Biography

I am originally from Alabama, USA. I received a BA in Philosophy with a minor in Music in a liberal arts setting at Davidson College, North Carolina. I completed an MST in Education at Pace University, New York, while I was teaching with Teach for America in the Bronx. I completed a Master of Divinity (MDiv) at Regent College in Vancouver, an MPhil in Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford, and a DPhil in Theology and Religion, also at Oxford.

Before lecturing at Cardiff, I was Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Theological Ethics at the University of Aberdeen and Associate Researcher with Fe y Desplazamiento (the Faith and Displacement Project) at the Seminario Bíblico de Colombia (FUSBC) in Medellín, Colombia.

Professional memberships

Society for the Study of Christian Ethics (SSCE, UK): Conference Secretary and member of the committee

Society of Christian Ethics (SCE, USA): past Co-Convenor, Migration Ethics Interest Group

British New Testament Society (BNTS, UK)

Supervisions

I am available to co-supervise research students. I can supervise MPhil and PhD students alongside colleagues from various disciplines at Cardiff University and Cardiff Baptist College. I welcome enquiries about doctoral study on topics related to ethics, Christianity, theology, the Bible, law, and politics.

Past projects

The Faith-Based Community Leader and Corruption (Madhilu): A Study of the Public Affairs Committee in Malawi

– Thomas Bright Chokankunene Nyang’ama