Staff profile

Bio

I am a scholar of medical humanities and religion interested in how the social and cognitive sciences can illuminate the processes by which religion/spirituality is involved in identity formation and wellbeing. This has meant that much of my work blends disciplinary approaches from sociology, psychology, and the history of religions to investigate individual and group responses to conflict, trauma, and extraordinary perceptual experiences. 

I have supervised postgraduate research on topics ranging from the 'lived religion' of the Graeco-Roman world to the identity-conserving strategies of Native American spiritualists in the 20th century. 

I have particular expertise in 19th-century religious movements, such as Mormonism and Spiritualism, as well as the life and works of sociologist Hans Mol and the study of religious/spiritual experiences. Since 2018 my work has come to focus on spiritual experiences in relation to mental health. This research has been published widely, receiving features in Forbes, Slate, Ano Cero, and BBC Science Focus as well as coverage by news outlets in over 30 different countries.

Authored book

• Hans Mol and the Sociology of Religion
  
  Powell, A. J. (2017). Hans Mol and the Sociology of Religion. Routledge.
• Irenaeus, Joseph Smith, and God-Making Heresy
  
  Powell, A. J. (2015). Irenaeus, Joseph Smith, and God-Making Heresy. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

Chapter in book

• Dreaming Spirits: Animism, Absorption, and Amplification
  
  Powell, A. (2026). Dreaming Spirits: Animism, Absorption, and Amplification. In Dreams, Narrative, and Liminal Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Framework (pp. 34-52). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198878117.003.0003
• Hearing Spirits: The Work and Technique of Controlled Clairaudience
  
  Powell, A. (2026). Hearing Spirits: The Work and Technique of Controlled Clairaudience. In E. Fabietti & Z. Ghyselinck (Eds.), Necrodialogues and Media: Communicating with the Dead in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. De Gruyter.
• Pollution and Purity: Understanding Voices as Punishment for Un-Wholly Sins
  
  Powell, A. J. (2022). Pollution and Purity: Understanding Voices as Punishment for Un-Wholly Sins. In A. Woods, B. Alderson-Day, & C. Fernyhough (Eds.), Voices in Psychosis: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 82-90). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192898388.003.0010
• Voices, Visions and the Spiritual Journey
  
  Clarke, I., & Powell, A. J. (2021). Voices, Visions and the Spiritual Journey. In S. Aris, H. Garraway, & H. Gilbert (Eds.), Mental Health, Spirituality and Well-being: A Handbook for Health and Social Care Professionals, Service Users and Carers. Pavilion.
• ‘A Simple and Warm Common Humanity’: Self-Transcendence and Restless Resilience in Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology
  
  Powell, A. J. (2019). ‘A Simple and Warm Common Humanity’: Self-Transcendence and Restless Resilience in Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology. In C. Cook & N. White (Eds.), Biblical and theological visions of resilience. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429001185-14

Edited book

• The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, and the Medical Humanities
  
  Slominski, K. L., Powell, A. J., & Cook, C. C. H. (Eds.). (2026). The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, and the Medical Humanities. Routledge.
• Religion, Theology, and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope
  
  Byers, A. J., & Powell, A. J. (Eds.). (2025). Religion, Theology, and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Fortress/Lexington. https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216200239
• Sacred Selves, Sacred Settings: Reflecting Hans Mol
  
  Davies, D. J., & Powell, A. J. (Eds.). (2015). Sacred Selves, Sacred Settings: Reflecting Hans Mol. Ashgate.
• Sacred Selves, Sacred Settings: Reflecting Hans Mol
  
  Davies, D. J., & Powell, A. J. (Eds.). (2015). Sacred Selves, Sacred Settings: Reflecting Hans Mol. Routledge.

Journal Article

• Pub Psychic Nights: Spiritual and Social Transformation Beyond Institutional Boundaries
  
  Starkey, C., Bullock, J., & Powell, A. (2025). Pub Psychic Nights: Spiritual and Social Transformation Beyond Institutional Boundaries. Implicit Religion, 26(4), 366-386. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.33028
• Learning to discern the voices of gods, spirits, tulpas and the dead
  
  Alderson-Day, B., Corlett, P., Deeley, Q., Dupois, D., Lifshitz, M., Moseley, P., Peters, E., Powell, A., & Powers, A. (2023). Learning to discern the voices of gods, spirits, tulpas and the dead. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 49(Supplement_1), S3-S12. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbac005
• Hearing spiritually significant voices: A phenomenological survey and taxonomy
  
  Cook, C. C., Powell, A., Alderson-Day, B., & Woods, A. (2022). Hearing spiritually significant voices: A phenomenological survey and taxonomy. Medical Humanities., 48(3), 273-284. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2020-012021
• Voice-hearing across the continuum: a phenomenology of spiritual voices
  
  Moseley, P., Powell, A., Woods, A., Fernyhough, C., & Alderson-Day, B. (2022). Voice-hearing across the continuum: a phenomenology of spiritual voices. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 48(5), 1066-1074. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbac054
• Jingle-jangle? Spiritual voices, absorption, and proneness to hallucinations in Tanya Luhrmann’s ‘How God Becomes Real’
  
  Moseley, P., & Powell, A. (2022). Jingle-jangle? Spiritual voices, absorption, and proneness to hallucinations in Tanya Luhrmann’s ‘How God Becomes Real’. Religion, Brain, and Behavior, 13(1), 62-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2022.2050796
• By-Products or By Design? Considering Hearing Voices and Other Matters of the Mind
  
  Powell, A. J., & Cook, C. C. (2021). By-Products or By Design? Considering Hearing Voices and Other Matters of the Mind. Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, 7(1), 73-84. https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.20092
• The etheric place: Notes on finding the supernatural at the boundaries of sleep
  
  Powell, A., & Cook, C. C. (2021). The etheric place: Notes on finding the supernatural at the boundaries of sleep. Journal for the Study of Religious Experience., 6(1), 45-51.
• When spirits speak: Absorption, attribution, and identity among spiritualists who report ‘clairaudient’ voice experiences
  
  Powell, A., & Moseley, P. (2020). When spirits speak: Absorption, attribution, and identity among spiritualists who report ‘clairaudient’ voice experiences. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 23(10), 841-856. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2020.1793310
• Mind and spirit: hypnagogia and religious experience
  
  Powell, A. J. (2018). Mind and spirit: hypnagogia and religious experience. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(6), 473-475. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366%2818%2930138-x
• The Hearing Voices Movement as Postmodern Religion-Making: Meaning, Power, Sacralisation, Identity
  
  Powell, A. J. (2017). The Hearing Voices Movement as Postmodern Religion-Making: Meaning, Power, Sacralisation, Identity. Implicit Religion, 20(2), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.32688
• Functionalism or Fallacy: Re-locating Hans Mol’s Identity Theory
  
  Powell, A. J. (2017). Functionalism or Fallacy: Re-locating Hans Mol’s Identity Theory. Italian Sociological Review, 7(1), 63-85. https://doi.org/10.13136/isr.v7i1.149
• The Place of Identity Dissonance and Emotional Motivations in Bio-Cultural Models of Religious Experience: A Report from the 19th Century
  
  Powell, A. J. (2017). The Place of Identity Dissonance and Emotional Motivations in Bio-Cultural Models of Religious Experience: A Report from the 19th Century. Journal for the Study of Religious Experience., 3(1), 91-105.
• Covenant Cloaks: Mormon Temple Garments in the Light of Identity Theory
  
  Powell, A. J. (2016). Covenant Cloaks: Mormon Temple Garments in the Light of Identity Theory. Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, 12(4), 457-475. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432200.2016.1227642
• The Ideal: One Possibility for the Future of Religious Identity
  
  Powell, A. J. (2015). The Ideal: One Possibility for the Future of Religious Identity. Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies, 6(1), 111-118.
• Irenaeus and God's Gifts: Reciprocity in Against Heresies, Iv.14.1
  
  Powell, A. J. (2013). Irenaeus and God’s Gifts: Reciprocity in Against Heresies, Iv.14.1. Studia Patristica, 65, 119-126.