Dr Sara Silvestri

Overview

Currently Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Dr Silvestri is in charge of specialist courses on Islamism, religion and politics, and the EU. She also supervises a number of PhD students working on the Middle East, Islam, and religion in international politics.

She joined the department in September 2006, after completing her MPhil, PhD and ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, where she collaborates with POLIS & St Edmund's College. Her international and multi-disciplinary training includes a humanities degree at La Sapienza (Rome), and specialisations in church-state relations (as a Marie Curie Fellow in Paris) and in EU migration policies (at the ULB, Belgium). She has also held positions at the University of Bristol, London Metropolitan University, and the Cambridge Muslim College.

Policy work

Dr Silvestri has directed the Islam in Europe programme at the European Policy Centre (Brussels) and has been a research consultant to the British Council, Ethnobarometer, the European Commission, and the British Government. Prior to that, she had worked in the Cabinet of the European Commission President and had been an Associate Fellow with Chatham House (London).

As an expert on Islam in Europe, religion, and intercultural relations, Sara serves in the advisory board of the British Council's 'Our Shared Future' programme, the ESRC 'Radicalisation Research' portal, and the EuroMediterranean Foundation Anna Lindh (for which she contributed to the first Gallup opinion poll of the EuroMediterranean region).


International conferences and invited talks

Dr Silvestri has presented her work at major academic conferences (e.g. BISA, ISA, PSA, UACES, EUSA, WOCMES, METROPOLIS) and has been an invited speaker at a number of prestigious academic and policy-oriented institutions and expert meetings around the world, including: European Parliament, European Commission, Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars, Canadian Federal Government, German Ministry of the Interior/ migration, Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Migration Policy Institute, House of Commons (UK), WISE Muslim women world conference (Malaysia), Casa Asia and Casa Arabe (Spain), Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arab League, EPC and CEPS (Brussels), IAI, IPPR, The Women Forum, The Vatican, Caritas Internationalis, Georgetown Univ., CIPMO and FIERI (Turin), Milan Univ., Copenhagen Univ., Helsinki Univ., TAPRI, LSE, SOAS, UCL, Oxford Univ., Cambridge Univ., Birmingham Univ. Edinburgh Univ., Lancaster Univ., Sussex Univ, Bogazici Univ. & Marmara Univ. (Turkey), Johns Hopkins Univ., Kuwait Univ., Kingdom of Morocco.

Other professional activities

Current external engagements

- Trustee, Council on Christian Approaches to Defense and Disarmament
- Trustee, Centre for Catholic Social Thought and Practice

Past Service to Academia and the Policy World:

- Co-convenor, BISA working group on Religion, Security and International Relations
- Treasurer, ISA section on Religion and International Relations
- Editorial board member, British Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
- United Nations Alliance of Civilisation: member of “global experts” group
- Scientific Advisor, Anna Lindh Foundation’s report of intercultural trends
- Advisory Board member, British Council project Our Shared Future
- Advisory Board member, Radicalisation Research

Qualifications

• PhD (International Studies), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Jan 2002 – Jul 2006
• MPhil, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Oct 2000 – Oct 2001
• Laurea (Arts: Modern Languages and History), Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza, Rome, Italy, Nov – Mar 1999

Employment

• Student Engagement Lead, City, University of London, May 2020 – Oct 2023
• UG Director, City, University of London, Jan 2017 – Aug 2018
• Deputy Head of Department, City, University of London, Aug – Dec 2016
• Senior Tutor for Research & Member of Research & Ethics Committee, City University London, London, Oct 2009 – Dec 2014
• Senior Lecturer, City, University of London, Sep 2006 – present
• Research Consultant, British Council, Jan – Jun 2006
• ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Jan 2006 – Aug 2017
• Research Fellow, London Metropolitan University, Jul – Dec 2005
• Visiting Lecturer convening MA module on Political Islam, University of Bristol, Bristol, Jan 2005 – Jun 2006
• Marie Curie Fellow, University of Paris Sud, Nov 2003 – Jan 2004
• Free Lance Journalist, self-employed, Sep 1998 – Sep 2000

Languages

English (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review), French (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review), German (can read and understand spoken), Italian (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review) and Spanish; Castilian (can read and understand spoken).

Teaching

IPM010 - Political Islam
IP2028 - Religion and Politics in an Age of Global Change
IPM111 - Dissertation Workshop - term 2 only

Research Summary

Dr Sara Silvestri is an interdisciplinary social scientist fascinated by the role of faith in society and in international relations and its implications for the governance of an increasingly diverse Europe. Her research, teaching, and publications focus on Islam, political mobilisation, and transnational networks; the emergence of Muslim institutions and pressure groups in Europe; Political Islam; Muslim-government relations and European public policies towards religion; the nexus immigration-integration-social exclusion; the debate on 'radical' versus 'moderate' Islam.

She recently completed an ESRC-funded collaborative comparative research project on the impact of British counterterrorism upon Irish and Muslim communities, presented in Parliament on 7/7/2011. Her book 'Europe's Muslim women: beyond the burqa controversy', based on unprecedented empirical research in 5 countries, is forthcoming.

Dr Silvestri has been the recipient of numerous research grants (including ESRC, NORFACE, ESF), is a member of Euro-Islam.info and the Muslims in Britain Research Network. Since 2007 she jointly convenes the BISA working group on Religion, Security and International Relations. In June 2011 she co-convened a major ESF-sponsored international conference on religion, gender and multiculturalismheld in Sweden.

Expertise

Islam and Muslim political mobilisation in Europe; Islamism; Religion, Politics, and Public Policy; Governance of Religious Pluralism, Faith-based movements and lobbies, Radicalisation, counter-terrorism; Migration, Integration, EU.

PhD supervision

Strong and motivated candidates with a developed proposal are welcome in Dr Silvestri's areas of expertise (Islam, religion, migration, terrorism, EU). She is also available to supervise Middle East related projects in conjunction colleagues specialising in the region. Potential candidates must make sure that they fulfil all the requirements in our PhD guidance pages before making speculative inquiries and applications.

Featured publications

1. Silvestri, S. (2016). Misperceptions of the 'Muslim Diaspora'. Current History, 115(784), pp. 319–321.
2. Hill, C., Silvestri, S. and Cetin, E. (2016). Migration and the Challenges of Italian Multiculturalism. Italian Politics, 31(1). doi:10.3167/ip.2016.310114.

   [publisher’s website]

3. Mandaville, P. and silvestri, S. (2015). Integrating religious engagement into diplomacy: challenges and opportunities. Brookings, 67.
4. Hickman, M.J., Thomas, L., Nickels, H.C. and Silvestri, S. (2012). Social cohesion and the notion of 'suspect communities': A study of the experiences and impacts of being 'suspect' for Irish communities and Muslim communities in Britain. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 5(1), pp. 89–106. doi:10.1080/17539153.2012.659915.
5. Silvestri, S. (2011). Faith intersections and Muslim women in the European microcosm: Notes towards the study of non-organized Islam. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34(7), pp. 1230–1247. doi:10.1080/01419870.2011.565779.
6. Silvestri, S. (2009). Islam and Religion in the EU Political System. WEST EUROPEAN POLITICS, 32(6), pp. 1212–1239. doi:10.1080/01402380903230678.
7. Silvestri, S. and Mayall, J. (2015). The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding. London: British Academy. ISBN 978-0-85672-618-7.
8. Silvestri, S. (2008). Europe's Muslim Women: Potential, Aspirations and Challenges. Brussels: King Baudouin Foundation. ISBN 978-90-5130-633-0.

Publications by category