Our Wellington and Manawatū campuses are open, Auckland remains closed at AL3. More information.

Dr Amy Whitehead staff profile picture

Contact details +6492136846

Dr Amy Whitehead PhD, MA

Senior Lecturer

School of People, Environment and Planning

Professional

Contact details

  • Ph: +64 (09) 414 0800 ext, 43846
    Location: AT2.26, Atrium Building
    Campus: Auckland

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy - The Open University (2011)
  • Masters Degree - Bath Spa University (2014)

Research Expertise

Research Interests

My areas of expertise broadly include the material and performance cultures of religions, indigenous religions, vernacular and lived religions, ritual, and the personhood of religious 'objects'. I am concerned with things as they sit at the heart of communities, and around which traditions take place and are maintained. 

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Cultural Studies (200200): Cultural Theory (200204):
Curatorial and Related Studies (210200): Curatorial and Related Studies not elsewhere classified (210299): Heritage and Cultural Conservation (210202): History And Archaeology (210000):
Languages, Communication And Culture (200000):
Materials Conservation (210203): Museum Studies (210204):
Other Philosophy and Religious Studies (229900): Philosophy And Religious Studies (220000): Religion and Religious Studies (220400)

Keywords

Religion and Material Cultures, Ritual and Performance Studies, Vernacular Religion, Indigenous Religions, New Religious Movements/Alternative Religions

Research Projects

Summary of Research Projects

Position Current Completed
Project Leader 1 0

Research Outputs

Journal

Whitehead, A. (2020). A method of ‘things’: a relational theory of objects as persons in lived religious practice. Journal of Contemporary Religion. 35(2), 231-250 Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537903.2020.1759902
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Online: DOI icon
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2019). Indigenizing the Goddess: Reclaiming Territory, Myth and Devotion in Glastonbury. International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 9(2), 215-233 Retrieved from https://journal.equinoxpub.com/IJSNR/article/view/13569
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Online: DOI icon
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2019). Touching, crafting, knowing: religious artefacts and the new fetishism. Body and Religion. 2(2), 224-244 Retrieved from https://journal.equinoxpub.com/BAR/article/view/7759
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Online: DOI icon
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2018). Devotional Bodies, Working Shrines: the dynamics of devotion in a Marian Shrine. Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft. 13(2), 212-230 Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711121
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Online: DOI icon
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2016). Conference Report: ‘Material Religion: Embodiment, Materiality, Technology. Material Religion: the journal of objects, art and belief. 13(1), 530-532
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.

view more...

Whitehead, A. (2013). Hair Offerings,the Gift and Giving of Devotion. Material Religion: the journal of objects, art and belief. 9(1), 131-133
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Whitehead, A. (2011). Gift Giving and Power Perspectives: Testing the role of statue devotion in England and Spain. Diskus: The Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions. 12, 24-37
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Whitehead, A. (2010). Pagans and Things: Idolatry or Materiality?. The Pomegranate: the international journal of Pagan studies. 12(1), 93-102
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Whitehead, A. (2009). The Goddess and the Virgin: Materiality in Western Europe. The Pomegranate: the international journal of Pagan studies. 10(1), 163-183
[Journal article]Authored by: Whitehead, A.

view less...

Book

Whitehead, A. (2020). Appalachian Animism: religion, the woods, and the material presence of the mountain. In D. Gunzburg, & B. Brady (Eds.) Space, Place and Religious Landscapes Living Mountains. London: Bloomsbury
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Whitehead, A. (2020). Indigenizing the Goddess: Reclaiming Territory, Myth and Devotion in Glastonbury. In G. Harvey (Ed.) Indigenising Movements in Europe. (pp. 51 - 69). : Equinox
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2019). Sacred Space and Sacred Objects. In GD. Chryssides, & SE. Gregg (Eds.) The Bloomsbury Handbook to Studying Christians. : Bloomsbury
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Whitehead, A. (2018). Touching, crafting and knowing: religious artefacts and the new fetishism. In G. Harvey, & J. Hughes (Eds.) Sensual Religion: Religion and the Five Senses. (pp. 260 - 270). London: Equinox
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Whitehead, A. (2018). Fetish things: personhood, power, and uncomfortable relations. In M. Astor-Aguilera, & G. Harvey (Eds.) Rethinking Relations and Animism: personhood and materiality. (pp. 75 - 93). London and New York: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon

view more...

Whitehead, A., & Harvey, G. (Eds.) (2018). Indigenous Religions: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. : Routlege
[Edited Book]Authored by: Whitehead, A.Edited by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2016). Enchanted matter: the unpredictability of devotion. In M. Broo, P. Ingman, T. Hovi, & T. Utriainen (Eds.) The Relational Dynamics of Enchantment and Sacralization: Changing the Terms of the Religion versus Secularity Debate. (pp. 45 - 64). London: Equinox
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2015). An English Shade of Animism: Contemporary Statue Devotion and the Glastonbury Goddess Religion. In T. Jones, & L. Matthews-Jones (Eds.) Material Religion in Modern Britain: The Spirit of Things. (pp. 209 - 224). : Palgrave MacMillan
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A. (2014). The new fetishism: Western statue devotion and a matter of power. In G. Harvey (Ed.) The Handbook of Contemporary Animism. (pp. 260 - 270). : Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A.(2013). Religious Statues and Personhood Testing the Role of Materiality. : A&C Black
[Authored Book]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon

view less...

Conference

Whitehead, A.Food, Feasting and Everyday Religion in Auckland's religious cultures. . Raglan
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Whitehead, A.
Read Abstract: abstract icon
Whitehead, A.Indigenizing the Goddess: reclaiming territory, myth and devotion in Glastonbury. . Bern, Swizerland
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Whitehead, A.

Consultancy and Languages

Consultancy

  • May 2017 to February 2018 - The Open University
    Research Consultant for the project 'Making Spiritual Communities' in England and Scotland

Teaching and Supervision

Courses Coordinated

  • 146.101 Understanding Cultural Difference
  • 146.203 Religion, Nature and Sustainability
  • 146.210 Anthropology of Ritual, Religion, and Witchcraft
  • 146.703 The Practice of Anthropology
Contact Supervisor