All Outputs (38)

Transformed ecologies and transformational saints: Exploring new pilgrimage routes in North East England (2022)
Journal Article
Miles‐Watson, J. (2022). Transformed ecologies and transformational saints: Exploring new pilgrimage routes in North East England. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 33(3), 412-427. https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.12455

County Durham in the UK has witnessed dramatic social and environmental shifts over the past 50 years, yet Durham Cathedral has stood at the heart of the region, seemingly solid, unchanging and eternal. It is frequently narrated as a prestigious jewe... Read More about Transformed ecologies and transformational saints: Exploring new pilgrimage routes in North East England.

From the Gods' Mountains to the Messiah's Glade: Christian Landscapes of Africa and Asia (2022)
Book Chapter
Miles-Watson, J., & Quiroz, S. (2022). From the Gods' Mountains to the Messiah's Glade: Christian Landscapes of Africa and Asia. In J. Bielo, & A. Ron (Eds.), Landscapes of Christianity: Destination, Temporality, Transformation. Bloomsbury Academic

How do Christians make relationships with land central to their faith? How have the realities of materiality, geography, and ecology shaped Christian territories of belonging and theologies of territory? What social-economic-political conditions surr... Read More about From the Gods' Mountains to the Messiah's Glade: Christian Landscapes of Africa and Asia.

Christianity and Belonging in Shimla, North India: Sacred Entanglements of a Himalayan Landscape (2020)
Book
Miles-Watson, J. (2020). Christianity and Belonging in Shimla, North India: Sacred Entanglements of a Himalayan Landscape. Bloomsbury Academic

This book explores the material religion of contemporary Shimla, a vibrant postcolonial city, famed for its colonial heritage, set against the backdrop of the North-Western Himalayas. Jonathan Miles-Watson demonstrates that this landscape is able to... Read More about Christianity and Belonging in Shimla, North India: Sacred Entanglements of a Himalayan Landscape.

The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Myth (2019)
Book
Miles-Watson, J., & Asimos, V. (Eds.). (2019). The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Myth. Bloomsbury Academic

What is myth? Why do myths exist? What do myths do? Where are myths going? This reader is organized into 4 parts which explore these questions. Drawing on over 10 years of experience teaching myth in religious studies and anthropology departments in... Read More about The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Myth.

Moments of "grace": exoreligious experiences of the numinous (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J., & Saha, P. (2017, December). Moments of "grace": exoreligious experiences of the numinous. Paper presented at CASCA/IUAES2017, Ottawa

One set of virtual footprints: a collective cyber-pilgrimage (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J., & Asimos, V. (2016, December). One set of virtual footprints: a collective cyber-pilgrimage. Paper presented at ASA16: Footprints and futures: the time of anthropology, Durham, UK

Teachings of Tara: Sacred place and human wellbeing in the Shimla hills (2016)
Journal Article
Miles-Watson, J. (2016). Teachings of Tara: Sacred place and human wellbeing in the Shimla hills. Anthropology in Action: Journal for Applied Anthropology in Policy and Practice, 23(3), 30-42. https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2016.230304

This article presents the case for a rethinking of the academy’s approach to sacred space through a demonstration of the way that a focus on unskilled actors reconfigures established approaches and interpretations. The article opens with an auto-ethn... Read More about Teachings of Tara: Sacred place and human wellbeing in the Shimla hills.

“Rupture or Redress? Processional Ritual, Identity and the Everyday Lives of Christians in Africa and Asia” (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J., & Quiroz, S. (2015, December). “Rupture or Redress? Processional Ritual, Identity and the Everyday Lives of Christians in Africa and Asia”. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Study of Religion, Kent

Ruptured Landscapes: Landscape and Identity in Times of Social Change (2015)
Book
Soovali, H., Reinert, H., & Miles-Watson, J. (Eds.). (2015). Ruptured Landscapes: Landscape and Identity in Times of Social Change. Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9903-4

Introduction - Ruptured Landscapes (2015)
Book Chapter
Miles-Watson, J., Reinert, H., & Sooväli-Sepping, H. (2015). Introduction - Ruptured Landscapes. In H. Sooväli-Sepping, H. Reinert, & J. Miles-Watson (Eds.), Ruptured landscapes : landscape, identity and social change (1-7). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9903-4_1

This chapter outlines the ambitions and key theoretical terms of the collection, and presents the various themes explored over the following chapters.

Ruptured Landscapes, Sacred Spaces and the Stretching of Landscape Capital (2015)
Book Chapter
Miles-Watson, J. (2015). Ruptured Landscapes, Sacred Spaces and the Stretching of Landscape Capital. In H. Sooväli-Sepping, H. Reinert, & J. Miles-Watson (Eds.), Ruptured landscapes : landscape and identity in times of social change (149-165). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9903-4_10

This chapter explores the ruptured landscapes of postcolonial Hill Stations in North India. These Hill Stations experienced massive population movements after independence, when the colonial administrators they were constructed for left and new peopl... Read More about Ruptured Landscapes, Sacred Spaces and the Stretching of Landscape Capital.

‘Worshipping with Ghosts in a North Indian Church’ (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2014, December). ‘Worshipping with Ghosts in a North Indian Church’. Paper presented at Invited Talk, Centre for the Study of World Christianity, Edinburgh

Sacred Landscape Reconsidered (Invited Talk) (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2014, December). Sacred Landscape Reconsidered (Invited Talk). Paper presented at Religion as Resource: Local and Global Discourses, Tübingen University

South Asian Christianity and identity (re)making (Invited Discussant) (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2014, December). South Asian Christianity and identity (re)making (Invited Discussant). Paper presented at Christianity in South Asia: cultural and historical interactions, Wolfson College, Oxford

Sacred places and human well-being in contemporary Shimla (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2014, December). Sacred places and human well-being in contemporary Shimla. Paper presented at The place of 'place' in wellbeing scholarship, Annual Meeting of the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth, Edinburgh

Space, Culture and Society (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2013, December). Space, Culture and Society. Paper presented at Evolving Humanity, Emerging Worlds: 17th World Congress of the IUAES, Manchester

Scandal Point: a tale of how a sign can become a symbol. (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2013, December). Scandal Point: a tale of how a sign can become a symbol. Paper presented at The Conceptual Boundaries of Symbolism, Durham, England

Pipe Organs and Satsang: Contemporary Worship in Shimla's Colonial Churches (2013)
Journal Article
Miles-Watson, J. (2013). Pipe Organs and Satsang: Contemporary Worship in Shimla's Colonial Churches. Culture and Religion, 14(2), 204-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2012.758647

This article explores two seemingly contrasting types of Christian worship (one led by the pipe organ and the other by satsang), which I repeatedly experienced (between 2006 and 2010) during my fieldwork in Shimla, North India. Although it is often a... Read More about Pipe Organs and Satsang: Contemporary Worship in Shimla's Colonial Churches.

Living Under the Gaze of Shimla's Giant Hanuman (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2012, December). Living Under the Gaze of Shimla's Giant Hanuman. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, USA

Creative Worship and the Healing of Shimla’s Ruptured Landscapes (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Miles-Watson, J. (2012, December). Creative Worship and the Healing of Shimla’s Ruptured Landscapes. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth, Delhi, India