Peter Sherlock (born 26 October 1972)[1] is an Australian academic and was the inaugural Vice-Chancellor of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, a role he held between 2012 and March 2024. He specialises in the cultural history of Renaissance and Reformation Europe, and is a recognised authority on historic monuments.[2]

Peter Sherlock
Vice-Chancellor of University of Divinity
Assumed office
2012
Dean of United Faculty of Theology
In office
2008–2012
Personal details
Born
Peter Sherlock

(1972-10-26) 26 October 1972 (age 52)
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne, University of Oxford
Professionacademic, historian

Education

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Sherlock completed a MA in history at the University of Melbourne.[3] He held a Commonwealth Scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford from 1997 to 2000.[2] His D.Phil thesis from the University of Oxford was titled, Funeral Monuments: Piety, Honour and Memory in Early Modern England.[4] From 2004 to 2008 Sherlock was an Australia Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne.[5]

Career

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Throughout his career Sherlock has made significant contributions to ecumenical theological education and Australian Universities. He served as Dean of the United Faculty of Theology from 2008 to 2012[5][6] and was appointed as the inaugural Vice-Chancellor of the University of Divinity in 2012.[2][5] He has been the Chair of the Council of Deans of Theology since 2015 and Treasurer of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies since 2014.[7][5] He was elected as President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools in 2022.[8]

Sherlock has also contributed to Australian public theological debate. Between 2013 and 2014 he wrote a column providing religious perspectives on contemporary issues called Theophilus for The Conversation.[9] He has been a guest on several Australian Broadcasting Commission's Radio National programs[10][11] and also appeared on episodes of The Drum.[12]

Sherlock's contributions to the Anglican Church includes serving as the Lay Canon of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne from 2010 to 2016.[13] He was editor of the Journal of Anglican Studies from 2020 to 2021.[14][15] Sherlock he has spoken publicly in favour of the Anglican Church of Australia supporting same-sex marriage. He has been in a long-term same-sex relationship and married his partner in 2018.[16] Sherlock delivered the 48th Barry Marshall Memorial Lecture, 'Why Australia Needs Theology', at Trinity College, Melbourne in 2017.[17][18]

Sherlock's research explores Renaissance and Reformation Europe history and theology, especially the commemoration of the dead and cultures of remembering and forgetting. He is a recognised authority on historic monuments.[19] He has also published in the areas of gender and religion, on theological education, and contributed multiple entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.[20]

Select publications

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Books

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  • Sherlock, Peter (2008) Monuments and Memory in Early Modern England. Ashgate, Aldershot. 296pp. ISBN 9780754660934
  • Cassidy-Welch, Megan and Sherlock, Peter (2008) Practices of Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Turnhout: Brepols (Late medieval and early modern studies, v. 11). ISBN 9782503523361

Book chapters

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  • Grimshaw, Patricia, and Peter Sherlock (2021) "Women and Cultural Exchanges". In: Critical Readings in the History of Christian Mission (Volume 2). Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp. 600–619. doi:10.1163/9789004399594_012
  • Sherlock, Peter (2020) "Monuments and the Reformation". In: Memory and the English Reformation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 168–184. ISBN 9781108900157
  • Sherlock, Peter (2019) "Sacred memory: The Elizabethan monuments of Westminster Abbey". In: Historicising Heritage and Emotions : The Affective Histories of Blood, Stone and Land. Routledge, London, pp. 67–83. ISBN 9781315472881
  • Sherlock, Peter (2018) "Monuments and Memory". In: A History of Early Modern Women's writing. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 292–312. ISBN 9781316480267
  • Sherlock, Peter (2017) "The Revolution of Memory: Monuments at Westminster Abbey". In: Revolutionary England, c.1630–c.1660: essays for Clive Holmes. Routledge, London, pp. 201–217. ISBN 9781472438379

Journal articles

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  • Sherlock, Peter (2016) The Foundation of the Melbourne College of Divinity. Journal of Religious History, 40 (2). pp. 204–224. doi:10.1111/1467-9809.12279

References

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  1. ^ "Who's Who Australia: Professor Peter David Sherlock". ConnectWeb.
  2. ^ a b c "Professor Peter Sherlock". University of Divinity. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  3. ^ Sherlock, Peter (1997). Anglicans, feminists and the ordination of women in Australia 1968-1977 (Thesis). Parkville, Victoria: University of Melbourne.
  4. ^ Sherlock, Peter. Funeral Monuments : Piety, Honour and Memory in Early Modern England. Thesis (D.Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2000.
  5. ^ a b c d "Peter Sherlock". The Conversation. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  6. ^ "United Faculty of Theology – University of Divinity". divinity.edu.au. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Council of Deans of Theology". cdt.edu.au. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Peter Sherlock | Staff directory". staff.divinity.edu.au. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Theophilus". theconversation.com. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Can religious institutions come back after the Royal Commission?". ABC Radio National. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  11. ^ "What are the limits of religious freedom in liberal democracies?". ABC Radio National. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  12. ^ The Drum: Friday April 9, ABC News, 9 April 2021, retrieved 24 August 2022
  13. ^ St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne Annual Report. St Paul's Press. 2016. p. 7.
  14. ^ Blackman, Graeme L. (2020). "Journal of Anglican Studies: Change of Editor" (PDF). Journal of Anglican Studies. 18: 1. doi:10.1017/S1740355320000297. S2CID 225936859. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  15. ^ Blackman, Graeme L. (2021). "Appointment of new Editor for the Journal of Anglican Studies" (PDF). Journal of Anglican Studies. 19: 1. doi:10.1017/S1740355321000115. S2CID 235463820. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  16. ^ Porter, Muriel (20 May 2022). "Australian Synod motion praising same-sex marriage falls, but gets nearly two-fifths of vote". Church Times. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  17. ^ Trinity College, University of Melbourne 2017 Annual Report (PDF). Trinity College. 2017. p. 4.
  18. ^ "Barry Marshall Lecture | About | Trinity College". www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  19. ^ Howse, Christopher (28 December 2019). "Sacred Mysteries: The Elgin Marbles of Westminster Abbey". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Contributor: Peter Sherlock". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
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