Dr Mutale Mulenga Kaunda

Mutale Mulenga Kaunda (PhD Gender and Religion) joined the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in September 2024 as a Research Tutor. She is a former Doctoral Researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal 2017-2019 and the University of the Western Cape 2022-2024. She held the position of Research Mentor and Writing coach in the School of Religion Philosophy and Classics University of KwaZulu-Natal 2015-2019. She is an expert in gender rituals, an expert in how African women negotiate cultural dynamics in places of work. She directed a program in Zambia on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights for the Circle MakeWay five-year program. Dr Kaunda is one of the strategic editors for the Sankofa Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians Conference in Ghana, the book is forth coming and is titled: Mothering African Women’s Theologies: Pioneers of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians being published by University of South Africa (UNISA) Press.

Dr Mulenga-Kaunda has travelled around the world for speaking engagements including a keynote speech at the World Council of Churches’ Commission on World Mission and Evangelism in Arusha Tanzania, 2018. This was a large gathering, and the speech is constantly referred to by many who were present. She was invited by the Lutheran World Federation to speak on the Holy Spirit from a Pentecostal perspective in Addis Ababa Ethiopia in 2019. Dr Mulenga Kaunda is involved in a variety of research-led community engagements. Her commitment to decolonial pedagogy and research finds expression in community workshops hosted by churches and institutions with a mission to decolonizing the Gospel. Her community work extends beyond Christian affiliated bodies, and she has also been a guest speaker on Radio Alansaar, an Islamic radio station where she engaged in a dialogue on violence against women in workplaces.

She has over 20 peer reviewed journal articles in international and South African Journals, as well as over 14 book chapters. These numerous publications cross various research topics intersecting gender studies and religion, culture, mission and ecumenism, rites of passage and most recently published a book:  “Postcolonial Imbusa Bemba Women’s Agency and Indigenous Cultural Systems” – which can be previewed here.

Research Interests: African Ritual Studies, Gender and Religion/Theology