New Publication

Jewish studies. HRF Helen R. Jacobus has published "Reconsidering the Redating of Five Jewish Documents in the 1990s: Updated Radiocarbon Dating Programs, Coins and Contracts From the Bar Kokhba Era,", co-written with Fiona Brock, Revue de Qumran 37.1 [125]: 3-39. Further information.

Student & Staff Festive Pizza Party

Event. Everyone from R&T and Liberal Arts are invited to a Festival Pizza Party, 4.30pm, Lime Cafe (bottom floor Samuel Alexander South Wing), Weds 3rd December.

Going Beyond Belief Highlights

Public resource. How do religions feature in sports today? On Adam North's Going Beyond Belief page on Sports and Religion, he explores commonalities between religion and sport, including rituals, communal traditions, leaders and role models, and a quest for transcendence. He asks questions such as can sports change the world for the better, and should we be critical of professional sports? This page, aimed at RS A-level students, is based on Adam’s PhD research and it is complementary to Radio 4’s Beyond Belief programme on the Olympics. This page could form the basis of an A-Level EPQ or it might be the kind of thing that inspires A-Level students to take their studies further after college or school!

Didsbury Lectures 2025

Christian Theology. Over the four evenings of 27-30 October, HRF Stephen Barton gave the Didsbury Lectures 2025 at the Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, on the theme, ‘The conversion of the emotions in early Christianity’. The lectures were live-streamed and are accessible on here on YouTube. 

New Publication

Biblical Studies. Peter Oakes, ‘Did Paul Write for Asterix? The Extent of Celtic Ethnicity in Galatia and the Audience of Galatians’, in The First Urban Churches 8: Galatia and Lycaonia, ed. James R. Harrison and L.L. Welborn (Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplement Series 13; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2025), 91-112. Oakes' article examines inscriptions and other evidence to assess the extent to which people in Galatia and among Paul’s audience might be seen as having Celtic ethnicity, in various senses ranging from genetics to language use, material culture and self-identification. Further information.

International Mentoring Award

Mentoring and Social Responsibility. A massive congratulations to Holly Morse who has been awarded the Society of Biblical Literature's 2025 Status of Women in the Profession Outstanding Service in Mentoring Award. Holly accepted the award this November in Boston. Further information.

Classics Research Seminar

Septuagint studies. The Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology (CAHAE) research seminar invites you to hear a paper by Thomas Ford from Münster titled ‘A Fragment of Septuagint Habakkuk from Trinity College, Cambridge’. Thursday 27 November, 5pm, Sam Alex A115. The seminar will be followed by a reception.

Religion & Theology Research Seminar

 

Religion & Theology. 8th December: Alex Samely (UoM) "The Two Worlds of the Reader: Text World and Life-world in a New Theory of Reading." 3–5pm in Samuel Alexander A116 and online. Email Siobhán Jolley or Holly Morse for the online link. 

Rylands Showcase

Community engagement. As part of the Rylands 125th Birthday Open Night, Jeremy Penner and Sarah Parkhouse will showcase a selection of manuscripts related to their upcoming 'Coptic in Manchester' UKRI project. Dec 4th, 5:30–8pm GMT, John Rylands Research Institute and Library, 150 Deansgate. Further information.

New Publication

Religion and theology. HRF Seoyoung Kim has published ‘Glocal Church Praxis on Water Justice’ in International Journal of Public Theology, Volume 19, Issue 2 (June 2025), Pages 169-184. The article explores the significant role of churches in advocating for and realizing water justice, particularly in the context of a glocal water crisis. Further information.

Chair of Trustees

Social responsibility. Peter Oakes is a Trustee at London School of Theology and has now been appointed as Chair of Trustees. LST is a non-denominational college providing training in theology, counselling and worship studies. The college currently has just under 370 students, drawn from a range of church denominations, largely across the evangelical spectrum. A particular distinctive is the Theology, Music and Worship degree, which draws on lecturers who are songwriters and performers in gospel music and other contemporary genres. 

Conversation with Yehudis Fletcher Event

Jewish studies. MA student Yehudis Fletcher will feature in the Sandra Seltzer Silberman Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Conversations Series on November 18, 2025 4.30pm (11:30 am EST), held online. Fletcher has recently published her memoir 'Chutzpah! A Memoir of Faith, Sexuality and Daring to Stay' with Penguin and is an author, scholar and activist within her Charedi community. Further information and zoom link here.

Career Spotlight: Editorial Assistant

For students. If you love working with language, ideas and getting things ready for publication, an editorial assistant role could be for you. Editorial assistants support the whole process of bringing content — whether books, journals, online articles or magazines — from manuscript to finished product. With your RELT degree, you’ve developed strong research and writing skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to think critically about meaning and context — all of which are useful in this role. A profile on the role is available on Prospects. Check it out for more details and then book a careers meeting to explore how your skills could map into editorial and publishing.