Spotlight: Alumni Profile

Careers. Ilaria Di Vincenzo graduated with a degree in Religions, Theology and Ethics and now works as a Digital Inclusion and Community Engagement Manager at Conversations Over Borders. Ilaria writes: "My degree really helped me to work with people from a wide range of countries, cultures, religions, and language backgrounds, which really is at the heart of what I do now. By choosing modules on different faiths and traditions, I built a deeper cultural awareness that has helped me approach my work with care, sensitivity, and respect." Read about their journey here.

PhD Success

Biblical studies. Congratulations to Dr Lev Eakins who has successfully completed his PhD. The thesis is titled 'Reassessing the Date and Provenance of the Gospel of Mark' and was supervised by Todd Klutz and Sarah Parkhouse and examined by Andy Boakye and James Crossley (Cambridge).

Lunchtime Talk and Book Signing

Christian studies. On 27th July, Siobhán Jolley will give a National Gallery lunchtime lecture followed by a book signing to celebrate the launch of her newly published book Saints. Further information.

Conference Paper

Jewish Studies. The annual conference of the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies takes place from 13–15 July at Birkbeck. Katja Stuerzenhofecker will deliver a paper entitled ‘The dislocation of place-based ritual community’. 

Collaborative Writing Workshop

Biblical studies. On 22–24th June, Sarah Parkhouse attended a writing workshop at the University of Copenhagen to develop a co-written book on biographies of Jesus (under contract with Bloomsbury) as part of a Royal Society of Edinburgh collaboration grant.

Research Presentation

Biblical studies. On 28th May, Siobhán Jolley presented "A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Traction: Rethinking “Holy Family” with Early Modern Magdalenes" at a National Gallery symposium about family in the visual arts. Further information.

Professional Development Session

Teaching development. In collaboration with the University of Manchester and validation partner Nazarene Theological College, our validation partner Cliff College held an event on 24th June on AI and thinking about its practical and ethical use amongst faculty and students. Pete Phillips offered a presentation on using digital theology to help think critically and creatively about the use of AI in teaching and learning in theology and religious studies.

New Publications

Theology and Religion. Our validation partner Nazarene Theological College is excited to see two postgraduate students published in the journal Theology in Scotland in a special edition on Theology and Mental Health: Jonathan Shamshad, a recent MA graduate, transformed a class assignment into "Be Still and Be Present: Psalm 46 and the Challenge of Super-Modern Anxiety" and Kate Bowen-Evans, a current lecturer and PhD student, shares in the same volume a dialogue with her brother Mark as "A Conversation on Faith and Mental Health: Breath, Presence, and the Imago Dei." Further information.

BBC Radio 4, Sunday

 

Religion and art. Siobhán Jolley has been interviewed on Radio 4's 'Sunday' programme about the new Anish Kapoor exhibition that opened this week at the Hayward Gallery in London. Siobhán's section starts around minute 20. Listen here.

New Publication

Biblical studies. Samuel Hildebrandt (NTC), “‘Let Us Strike Him with the Tongue!’ The Violence of Speech in Isaiah and Jeremiah.” In The Bible and Violence. Volume I: Violence in Biblical Texts. Edited by C. Greenough, J. Stiebert, J. Jodamus, and M.D. Kebaneilwe. London: T&T Clark, 2026. Further information.

Teaching Innovation

Undergraduate Scholars Project. Katja Stuerzenhofecker led the SALC Undergraduate Scholars Project ‘Generative AI – what does machine learning do in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures?’ The students presented their findings and recommendations at the SALC Undergraduate Scholars Showcase on 6 May, and at the international conference ‘Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Balancing Equity, Access and Innovation’ on 9-10 June. The Undergraduate Scholars Programme is an extra-curricular, non-credit bearing programme of interdisciplinary research for intellectually adventurous undergraduate students in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.

Research Presentations

Biblical studies. On 27th May, Siobhán Jolley presented "Wounded Yet Glorified: Reconfiguring Biblical Disability Through Artistic Depictions of Christ’s Body" at the University of Chester Theology & Religious Studies research seminar, followed by a presentation that evening to Chester Theological Society on "The Mother and the Magdalene: The Marys in Jesus Films."

Alumnus Research Activities

Alumni Activity. R&T alumnus Giles Briscoe (class of 2018-19) is giving a series of talks on his doctoral research at Edge Hill University, which explores drag as a sacred practice, reading RuPaul’s Drag Race and its associated spaces as sites of confession, transformation, and community. The idea first emerged during Giles’s undergraduate Theological Studies in Philosophy and Ethics, for whose teaching and support he remains warmly appreciative. Upcoming talks include a presentation to Australian audiences in James Cook University's Gender and Sexualities Seminar Series.