Biography:
Christopher Wadibia is a Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford researching the nexus between political Pentecostalism and racism in the UK under the aegis of Pembroke's Religion and the Frontier Challenges program. Christoper's doctoral research studied the politics underpinning how the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), one of Nigeria's most popular and sociopolitically influential indigenous Pentecostal churches, invests in Nigerian development causes. Before Oxford, Christopher completed a BA Government at Georgetown University (2016), an MPhil Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies at Trinity College Dublin (2018), and a PhD Theology and Religious Studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge (2021).
After graduating from Georgetown, the United States Department of State awarded Christopher a Fullbright grant to research Muslim-Christian relations in Nigeria (2016-2017). After completing his MPhil, Trinity College Dublin awarded Christopher the James Haire Prize for best coursework. As a doctoral researcher at Cambridge, the Cambridge University Centre for Geopolitics appointed Christopher as an Ax:son Johnson Research Assistant in Applied History, the Cambridge University Woolf Institute appointed Christopher as an Honorary PhD Scholar, and Christopher served as the Divinity Faculty Representative for the Cambridge Data Champions Programme, in addition to engaging with other academic activities. Alongside his Junior Research Fellowship, Christopher is Assistant Editor of the academic journal PentecoStudies and an Affiliated Researcher at the Cambridge University Woolf Institute. Christopher’s research interests include Global Pentecostalism; religion, politics, and development; religion, society, and public policy; and Muslim-Christian relations. Christopher is passionate about bridging academic research with public engagement, and welcomes opportunities to supply consultative solutions to problems related to his expertise.
Faculty Research Area(s):
Study of Religions
Research Interests:
- Pentecostalism and Nigerian Development
- Religion, Politics, and Global development
- Black Religious Transnationalism and Racism in the UK
- Political Pentecostalism and Public Policy
Research Centres & Projects:
Affiliated Researcher at the Cambridge University Woolf Institute
Editorships:
Assistant Editor for PentecoStudies: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Research on the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements
