Dr Sumedh Rao

I am a Post Doctoral Researcher in the Psychology of Prejudice working on the “Anti-Catholicism in the UK since 1945: An interdisciplinary study of prejudice” project. This innovative interdisciplinary project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, with Professor John Wolffe (PI, Religious Studies) and Prof Jovan Byford and Prof John Dixon (Co-Is, Social Psychology), in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It will offer the first systematic interdisciplinary examination of an important form of prejudice, drawing on theoretical and methodological insights from psychology and history. The focus of the project is anti-Catholicism in the diverse cultural and historical contexts of the post-war United Kingdom, exploring the contrasting experiences of the four nations that make up the UK. 

Prior to this role, I was a Research Associate at the University of Oxford working with Prof Shelley McKeown Jones on the Shared Spaces Project. This project examined the interplay between the individual and contextual factors that influence whether adolescents in Belfast and Bradford choose to, or choose not to, engage in intergroup interactions with people from other ethno-religious groups. I have a particular interest in intergroup relations, especially in conflict-affected contexts. My doctoral research explored experiences and conceptualisations of identity, threat and trust in post-accord Northern Ireland. Before my PhD, I primarily worked as a policy researcher, looking at issues of conflict and governance for governmental and international organisations.