Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree is Professor of Social & Cultural Diversity in the Department of Social Sciences & Social Work in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. Sara is a founding member and co-convenor of the innovative, Women’s Academic Network at BU. The former deputy director of the Centre of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Sara’s research interests reflect her extensive international academic experience across the social sciences. Her research interests cover diversity and vulnerability, spanning topics such as gender, ethnicity and mental health; faith and international social work; disability in the Middle East; racism and social exclusion in Hong Kong, SAR; indigenous people and ecological threat in Malaysia and Costa Rica - and latterly gender and equality in Higher Education. A qualified social work academic, prior to taking up post at Bournemouth University in 2007, Sara was Assistant Professor of social work at the elite HEI, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and held previous academic posts at Zayed University, United Arab Emirates and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. To-date she has authored ten books and numerous peer-review articles and book chapters. The main author of the highly popular social work book Islam and Social Work, Sara is a Visiting Professor at the APEX HEI, Universi Sains Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and the National University - Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia., where she is a lifetime member of the nationally acclaimed Tasik Chini Research Centre.

Research

My research work is primarily focused on diversity, vulnerability, marginalised groups and unheard voices - and I am particularly well known for my ethnographic studies in these diverse socio-religio-cultural domains.

My current research focuses variously on indigenous people in Malaysia under ecological threat; an extensive ethnographic, cross-cultural study of women and religion; a historiographic study of missionary nurses in the twentieth century; and research ethics.

Publications

Grants

Outreach & engagement