Congratulations to Ravi Munglani, a student on the joint BA French – History programme who has won this year’s Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions Iress Essay Prize.

Speaking of the achievement, ‘’ My essay was about whether labelling ISIS as an apocalyptic movement underplayed other aspects of their ideology. Having never studied millennialism, apocalypticism, or even religion that much before, this module really helped to understand the issues at play. Also the Apocalypse! module is a joint history and anthropology one, as a history student most of the essays that I have written have been about events that are in the past, as opposed to Islamic State, which is a very current issue, therefore I again had to change my regular way of thinking. Both Joe and Crawford were great teachers and encouraged me to apply for the award, and I am very grateful to both of them for it.’’

Professor Crawford Gribben commended Ravi on his assignment and added ‘’ Ravi’s essay on the apocalyptic resonances of jihadist terror was submitted as an assessment for the HAPP module, “Apocalypse: The history and anthropology of the end of the world.” Students on this module are encouraged to engage critically with relevant global challenges, analysing the content and function of apocalyptic language and behaviour. Ravi’s essay was an outstanding example of this kind of critical reflection, with a high mark being confirmed by the external examiner.’’