The Conversation - Women Retelling Jesus

Biblical studies. Sarah Parkhouse has written "Cynthia Erivo will be the most talked about Jesus of 2025 – but women have long retold the gospel" for The Conversation. This is, in part, part of a project funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Read it here.

New Publication

Biblical studies. Siobhán Jolley has published the entry for Pontius Pilate in Visual Art for the Encyclopaedia of the Bible and its Reception, which is available online now ahead of the physical publication of Volume 24 in the autumn. Further information.

International Conference Papers

Asian Religions. Erica Baffelli will be presenting at the XXIII IAHR Congress in Kraków in August 2025, chairing a roundtable on “Recentring Fear in the Study of Religion: Theorising from Asia” and as discussant on two panels  “The Religious Aesthetics of Intense Devotion in the Ancient World” and "Methodologies in Global Religious History: Is there "Esotericism" in Japan?". Further information.

Going Beyond Belief Highlights

Public resource. Many A level RS students don’t get the opportunity to learn about the way that technology is influencing ideas about religion and humanity and vice versa in the modern world. On our resource, Going Beyond Belief, Dr Scott Midson has created an activity page on Roboethics that provides just such an opportunity! In it he helps to show how many of the ethical issues that A level students study as part of their RS syllabus are, in fact, crucial for thinking about big questions to do with AI and robotics. You can find a link to Scott's pages here.

New Publication

Religion and the Environment. Peter Scott has published the entry on "Ecology and the Environment" (June 2025) in The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion at Oxford University Press. Further information.

New Publication and Conference Panel

Practical Theology. The volume Resisting Theologies and the Everyday: Addressing Inequalities in Constructive, Practical, and Liberative Approaches, edited by Wren Radford has just been published. Wren also provided the introduction to the volume which charts the possibilities of engaging with ‘the everyday’ in practical, constructive, and liberative theologies, alongside a chapter stemming from their own qualitative research, titled ‘Caring Hurts: The Everydayness of Navigating Poverty in the UK’. The collection includes a range of contributions ranging from different theological and global contexts. There was a panel for the volume at the International Association of Practical Theology (IAPT) Conference in June in Sakatoon, where Wren presented on the volume on their chapter, alongside Néstor Medina (La Lucha, Lo Cotidiano, and Fiesta: On Decolonial Theoethical Insights in Latina/o/x Theologies) and Heather Walton (Everyday Extremes: Encountering the Wild in Theological Discourses of Everyday Life) presenting on their respective chapters.

Manchester Graduate Talent (MGT) 2025 programme is open

For graduates. Our Manchester Graduate Talent (MGT) scheme sources paid graduate-level opportunities for 2024 and 2025 graduates. Find out more here.

International Workshop

Early Christian Studies. On 5–6th August, Sarah Parkhouse is participating in "Longing for Home: Exploring the Contemporary Significance of Late Antique Christian Notions of 'Home' in the Chester Beatty Collections", hosted by Dublin City University and the Chester Beatty Museum and funded by Research Ireland. Sarah will be working on the significance of "home" in Coptic martyr and monastic texts held in the Museum. Further information.

Conference Presentation

Pedagogical approaches. Wren Radford presented at the University’s Teaching and Learning conference at the start of July, facilitating a workshop ‘Fragile, Messy, Slow, Fun: Interdisciplinary Inclusive Education’, which drew on participatory research with students on the Liberal Arts programme. The workshop used design cards collaboratively created with students that present a mix of images, experience-based quotes, and academic readings to promote reflection on practices of inclusion and interdisciplinarity in teaching and learning.

PhD Success

Religion and Theology. Warm congratulations to Al Lowe, who has successfully completed his part-time doctoral studies and graduated in July. His thesis title is "A Critical Theological Appraisal of Discipleship in the Fresh Expressions Literature, 2000-2023: Exploring Concept, Formation and Practices". His supervisors were Peter Scott and Scott Midson.

John Heywood Thomas, 1926–2025

Philosophy of Religion. The department is saddened by the news that John Heywood Thomas has passed away at the age of 98. Professor Heywood Thomas was a lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Manchester between 1957–65, where he published his seminal book interpreting and critiquing his own teacher Paul Tillich, alongside a number of important journal articles. You can read 'Paul Tillich: An Appraisal' here. Following his time at Manchester, John became a Reader in Divinity at Durham (1964–74) and Professor and Head of the Department of Theology at Nottingham University (1974–92). In retirement, John held an honorary professorship at the University of Wales. Robert Pope has published an obituary in the Guardian.

Faith on Failure Workshop

Religious studies. Erica Baffelli was one of the invited speakers at the “Faith on Failure: The 2025 Heythrop Institute Workshop” (July 17-18). Further information.

New Publication and Launch Event

Philosophy. Alex Samely has published "Philosophising While Reading Texts Across Cultures" in Doing Metaphysics in a Diverse World: How We Make Sense of Things Across Cultures, edited by Stephen Green and published by Bloomsbury. The book was launched by an event at the British Academy on 25 June, which at the same time served as the launch event of the Intercultural Philosophy Association, of which Alex is a founding member.