People > Steering Committee > Marion Bowman

Marion Bowman has worked in the Religious Studies department at The Open University since 2000. Working at the interstices of religious studies and folklore/ ethnology, her research interests are very much rooted in contemporary vernacular religion - religion as it is lived: the experiences, worldviews, beliefs, practices and material culture of individuals and groups in in specific locations and contexts. She has conducted long term research in Glastonbury, a significant pilgrimage destination and microcosm of contemporary spirituality and vernacular religiosity. She was a Co-Investigator on the AHRC funded project Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, Past and Present, 2014-2017,  and Visiting Professor II (2016-2018), now Guest Researcher, at the University of Oslo. She is Vice-President of the European Association for the Study of Religions.