Dr Josh Bullock
Faculties, deparments and locations
- Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- Department of Criminology and Social Sciences
- School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences
- Penrhyn Road
Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology
- Email:
- j.bullock@kingston.ac.uk
About
I am Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Criminology and Sociology. My research revolves around two key areas. The first explores the impact of true crime consumption on audiences and their perceptions of the criminal justice system. The second investigates the sociology of religion and nonreligion, community and belonging, as well as paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural beliefs.
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.
My previous research has focused on religion, nationalism 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. I was awarded teaching excellence in 2023 the School for Law, Social and Behaviour Sciences. Faculty of Business and Social Sciences Lecturer of the year 2024.
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
Domains
I teach on the following modules: Crime, Law and Justice, Classical Social Theory in a Contemporary World (Level 4), Crime on Screen and Researching Social Problems (Level 5).
Qualifications
- Senior Fellowship (SFHEA)
Courses taught
2024–2028
Project: "PERceived threats, SOcial identity, and cohesioN" (PERSON), €41,500
Role: Co.I. Funder: NextGenerationEU National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
2023–2024
"Collaborative Digital Storytelling for Educational Advantage" (CoDiSEA) 714k NOK
Role: External Partner. Funder: Bergen University, Norway.
2023–2024
Project: Weekday Worldviews: The Patrons, Promise and Payoff of Psychic Nights in England, £19,518
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 £2,104
Role: P.I. Funder: Kingston University
2021–2022
Project: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy, £1,000
Role: P.I. Funder: Kingston University
2020–2023
Project: Nonreligion, Values and European Migration, £6,530
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
- University of Amsterdam Digital Research Methods Winter School 2018
Specialisms
- Religion
- Nonreligion
- Research methods
- Belief
- Belonging
- True Crime
Using expertise in survey design and application, I am an adviser on the survey design tool Accipi which is under development.
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/
Publications
Modeling nationalism, religiosity, and threat perception : during the COVID-19 pandemic
Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin E., Mikloušić, Igor and Shults, F. LeRon, 2023, PLoS ONE (18), 4, pp e0281002
What causes COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy? Ignorance and the lack of bliss in the United Kingdom
Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin E. and Shults, F. LeRon, 2022, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (9), pp 87
Modelling threat causation for religiosity and Nationalism in Europe
Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin.E, Mikloušić, Igor and Shults, LeRon, 2020, arXiv
Reaching for a new sense of connection : soft atheism and 'patch and make do' spirituality amongst nonreligious European millennials
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh, 2020, Culture and Religion (21), 2, pp 157-177
The diversity of nonreligion : meaning-making, activism and towards a theory of nonreligious identity and group formation
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2022). In: Zwilling, Anne-Laure, (eds.) and Arsheim, Helge, (eds.), Nonreligion in late modern societies. Cham, Switzerland: Springer
Non-religion and Europe
Bullock, Josh and Bullivant, Stephen (2021). In: Davie, Grace, (eds.) and Leustean, Lucian N., (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, pp 551-567
Pub psychic nights as heterotopia : exploring experiences of marginal, unlikely, and transformative spaces in contemporary spirit communication
Bullock, Josh, Powell, Adam and Starkey, Caroline(2024). In: American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting 2024, 23–26 Nov 2024 :San Diego, U.S.
The impact of true crime podcasts and television engagement on anxiety, fear, and perceptions of the English and Welsh criminal justice system
Bullock, Josh and Zloteanu, Mircea(2024). In: 24th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology: Criminology Goes East, 11-14 Sep 2024 :Bucharest, Romania
Weekday worldviews : the patrons, promise and payoff of psychic nights in England
Starkey, Caroline, Bullock, Josh and Powell, Adam(2024). In: British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference, 8-10 July 2024 :Newcastle, U.K.
Soft atheism and 'patch and make do' spirituality amongst nonreligious European millennials
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2021). In: Beyond Binaries in the Sociology of Religion : British Sociological Association : Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference, 13 - 15 Jul 2021 :Held online
The relationships between religiosity, nationalism, and anti-immigrant sentiment? A preliminary simulation
Bullock, Josh(2020). In: 11th Annual Faculty Research Conference: Contemporary Issues in Business and Social Science Research, 22 Jun 2020 :Kingston upon Thames, U.K.
'Nones' in the populist public sphere : non-believing and belonging amongst millennials in Poland and Romania
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2019). In: Fragile Europe : 5th Midterm Conference, 02 - 03 Nov 2018 :Prague, Czech Republic
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The sociality of nonreligion in Europe in Europe
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2019). In: Religion – Continuations and Disruptions: 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions, 25 - 29 Jun 2019 :Tartu, Estonia
Nonreligion and Europe
Bullivant, Stephen and Bullock, Josh(2019). In: Religion – Continuations and Disruptions: 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions, 25 - 29 Jun 2019 :Tartu, Estonia
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The sociality of nonreligion in Europe
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2019). In: Cultures of unbelief, 28 - 30 May 2019 :Rome, Italy
Reaching for a new sense of connection? From Truro to Transylvania
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2018). In: Formatting nonreligion in late modern societies : institutional and legal perspectives., 26 - 28 Sep 2018 :Oslo, Norway
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe : an early analysis
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2018). In: Borders and boundaries : 'Religion' on the periphery, 03 – 05 Sep 2018 :Belfast, Northern Ireland
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe : an early analysis
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2018). In: Religion and Education, 10 - 12 July 2018 :Glasgow, U.K.
Reaching for a new sense of connection? Towards a deeper understanding of the sociality of Generation Y non-believers in Northern and Central Europe
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2018). In: Understanding Unbelief Workshop, 02 - 04 Jul 2018 :Canterbury, Kent
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe : an early analysis
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2018). In: Worldviews in World View : Particularizing Secularism, Secularity and Nonreligion, 05 - 06 Jul 2018 :London, U.K.
Sunday assembly : a ‘radically inclusive’ congregation?
Bullock, Josh(2018). 02 May 2018 : London, U.K.
Understanding Sunday Assembly rituals through a post-Christian lens
Bullock, Josh(2017). In: SSSR/RRA 2017 Annual Meeting, 12 - 14 Oct 2017 :Washington, DC, U.S.
Studying the Sunday Assembly through a post-Christian lens
Bullock, Josh(2017). In: On the Edge? Centres and Margins in the Sociology of Religion, 12 -14 Jul 2017 :Leeds, U.K.
Reimagining the secular : the Sunday assembly – belonging without believing
Bullock, Josh(2016). 07 – 09 Jul 2016 : Zurich, Switzerland
The Sunday Assembly : creating community among the nonreligious
Bullock, Josh(2015). In: Foundations and Futures : British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference, 07 – 09 Jul 2015 :Kingston upon Thames, U.K.
The sociology of the Sunday assembly : 'belonging without believing' in a post-Christian context
Bullock, Josh (2018), PhD thesis, Kingston University
Gallery of work
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Religious Diversification in Northern Europe Network
Hosted in Bergen 2023
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Presenting research findings in Tartu, Estonia
Annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions 2019
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Research in Germany
Leipzig 2018
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Research in Romania
Timisoara Orthodox Cathedral, 2018
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Research in Norway
Kristiansand, 2018
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Research in Poland
Zakopane 2018
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"Spirited Conversations" Leeds (2023).
Spirited Conversations: Wellbeing, Reason and Communication with the Dead Being Human Event in Leeds
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Criminology goes East!
EuroCrim2024 Bucharest
