Professor David Chidester

Professor David Chidester specialises in religion, politics, and popular culture in Comparative Religion, South African Studies, and North American Studies. He has spent most of his academic career at the University of Cape Town where he started as a Lecturer in Religious Studies. Between 2002 and 2003 he was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council and Special Advisor to the Department and Ministry of Education. In 2002 he was appointed as UCT’s Chair of Religious Studies. Since 2018, he is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Scholar at UCT. He has received numerous accolades over the years, the most recent being the UCT Book Award for Empire of Religion: Imperialism and Comparative Religion in 2017. He’s a regular contributor to international conferences, and regularly receives invitations to participate in international research initiatives such as the “Heritage Dynamics: Politics of Authentication and Aesthetics of Persuasion” project (2009-2014). To date, he has authored/edited 25 books, over 70 book chapters and over 60 journal articles.