I completed an MPhil and DPhil in Theology at the University of Oxford. I subsequently held a post-doctoral fellowship in Science-Engaged Theology at the University of Cambridge, and was then lecturer in theology at Ripon College Cuddesdon. In my current post I am the tutor for theology at Harris Manchester College. I have been a fellow of the New Visions in Theological Anthropology project hosted by the University of St Andrews, and am currently a fellow of Psychology Cross-training Fellowship Programme for Theologians at the University of Brimingham.
Research Interests:
My doctoral research examines systematic theology in dialogue with the emerging area of cognitive science known as ‘embodied cognition’. Embodied cognition considers how factors beyond the brain—such as emotional body states, perceptual interactions or engagement with material culture—participate in our cognitive processes. My work probes how findings in this area relate to liturgical theology, theological concepts, and the principle of divine accommodation. I am currently working at the intersection of psychology and ecotheology.
Tan, Tobias. 'William James and Embodied Religious Belief.' Contemporary Pragmatism 15, no. 3 (2018): 366-386.
Tan, Tobias. 'The Corporeality of Religious Experience: Embodied Cognition in Religious Practices.' In Experience or Expression? Religious Experience Revisited, edited by Thomas Hardke, Ulrich Schmiedel and Tobias Tan, 207-226. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
