Eleanor Nesbitt (born 1951) is a British emeritus professor in Education Studies at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, and a founding member of the UK's Punjab Research Group and the ''Journal of Sikh and Punjab Studies'' as well as coediting Brill's Encyclopedia of Sikhism.

Early life and education

Eleanor Nesbitt was born in 1951 to Martha Eleanor Nesbitt and William Ralph Nesbitt. She attended

Talbot Heath School Talbot Heath School is a selective, private day and boarding school for girls aged 2–18 located in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The school was founded as Bournemouth High School in 1886 by founding headmistress Mary Broad. Ta ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

before studying

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Career

Nesbitt completed teacher training at Oxford before travelling to India. There, she taught in

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

from 1974 to 1977. After returning to England in 1977 she spent two years teaching in a comprehensive school in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, and subsequently carried out research in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. She became professor in

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

studies at the

. Nesbitt published studies on Sikh children in Coventry in 1991, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, and 2009. Her 1993 book, titled ''Hindu children in Britain'' and co-authored with Robert Jackson, is considered by several scholars in religious studies, including Dermot Killingley, as important in that field. In 1998 she published an article on British, Asian, and Hindu identity. In 2001 she published her research on what Hindus in the UK believed. Her 2024 book, titled ''Sikh: Two Centuries of Western Women's Art & Writing'', documents Sikh history through western women's encounters with Sikhs and their culture.

Awards and honours

In 2003 Nesbitt delivered the

Swarthmore Lecture Swarthmore Lecture is one of a series of lectures, started in 1908, addressed to Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The preface to the very first lecture explains the purpose of the series. “This book is t ...

, and in 2009 gave the George Richardson lecture.

Selected publications

Books

*''Listening to Hindus'' Harper Collins 1990 ISBN 9780044481218 (coauthored with Robert Jackson) * (Co-authored with Robert Jackson) * (Coauthored with Gopinder Kaur) *''Interfaith Pilgrims'' Quaker Books 2003 ISBN 0852453477 * * (2nd edition 2016) * (Co-authored with Kailash Puri) *''Making Nothing Happen: Five Poets Explore Faith and Spirituality'2014 Routledge ISBN 9781409455158. (coauthored with Gavin D'Costa, Mark Pryce, Ruth Shelton and Nicola Slee) Coventry's Literary Trail. Positive Images Festival ISBN 9780956277916 * * Sikhism: The Basics 2025 Routledge Co-authored with Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh isbn 9781032416779

Articles

* * * * Nesbitt, Eleanor, (2015) '"The Fools Argue about Flesh and Meat" Sikhism and Vegetarianism', Religions of South Asia, 9, 1, 81-101. Chapters in edited volumes '"Deg tegh fateh!" Metal as Material and Metaphor in Sikh Tradition' in Fabrizio Ferrari and Thomas Dahnhardt (eds) Soulless Matter, Seats of Energy - Metals, Gems and Minerals in South Asian Traditions, London: Equinox, 174-200, 2016. 'Sikhism in Mainland Europe' in Pashaura Singh and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (eds) The Sikh World, London: Routledge, 160-170, 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, Eleanor Living people 1951 births 21st-century British women writers Academics of the University of Warwick British ethnographers Writers from Bournemouth Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Educational researchers People educated at Talbot Heath School