The Christian academic who was first suspended and then left her college after she stated that Muslims and Christians worship the same God has a new job.

Professor Larycia Hawkins is to start work at the University of Virgininia as the Abd el-Kader Visiting Faculty Fellow, named after a 19th centiry Islamic scholar. She will conduct research on the relationship between religion and race, the Chronicle for Higher Education revealed.

She has previously worked for the university's non-partisan Miller Center that studies politics and the presidency.

According to the University of Virginia, the principal aims of the fellowship, at the university's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, are academic.

The aims are also in keeping with Abd el-Kader's commitment to intercultural dialogue and the Institute's commitment to foster the common good across deep differences, the institute says.

The Abd el-Kader Fellowship is awarded to applicants "whose scholarship seeks to contribute directly to transdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue."

Hawkins' new job comes after she and Wheaton College, a well-known private evangelical Christian college announced that "they have come together and found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation". Hawkins was widely criticised after she wore a hijab throughout Advent in solidarity with Muslims and also stated that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.

Wheaton College president Dr Philip Ryken said at the time: "Wheaton College sincerely appreciates Dr Hawkins' contributions to this institution over the last nine years. We are grateful for her passionate teaching, scholarship, community service and mentorship of our students."

Dr Hawkins said: "I appreciate and have great respect for the Christian liberal arts and the ways that Wheaton College exudes that in its mission, programmes, and in the calibre of its employees and students."

In a joint statement they said that they both share a commitment to care for the oppressed and the marginalised, including those who are marginalised because of their religious beliefs, and to respectful dialogue with people of other faiths or no faith. "While parting ways, both Wheaton College and Dr Hawkins wish the best for each other in their ongoing work."