From the Archive... Podcast, Bogdanow Lectures 2017

Holocaust Studies. The 2017 Bogdanow Lectures by Dr Vicki Barnett (Washington Holocaust Memorial Museum) on 'The Church and the Holocaust' are now available to view online. The lectures are entitled: 1 Unfinished Hero: Dietrich Bonhoeffer in History, and 2. International Responses from Catholics, Jews and Protestants during the Holocaust. Originally presented 30 and 31 January 2017. Further information.

From the Archive... Podcast, Jewish Studies seminar

Alexander Altmann and Manchester. Dominique Bourel (CNRS, Paris), 'From Kassa to Manchester and Forward: Alexander Altmann and the Mendelssohn Forschung'. Originally presented Thu 14 April 2016. Further information.

From the archive... Podcast of guest lecture

New technologies and religion. Scott Midson has contributed to a series of podcasts entitled 'Human Flourishing in a Technological World' at Oxford University and presents his work on theological anthropology and critical posthumanism in a series of short videos. 6 June 2019. Watch clip 1, clip 2 and clip 3 and clip 4.

New publication

Biblical Studies. Walter J. Houston, Justice for the Poor: Social Justice in the Old Testament in Theory and Practice. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books (2020). Rev. Dr Houston is Hon. Research Fellow in the Centre for Biblical Studies and tutor in Biblical Hebrew. Further information.

From the Archive... Podcast, Bogdanow Lectures 2016

Holocaust Studies. The 2016 Bogdanow Lectures by Prof. Michael Marrus (Toronto) on 'Lessons of the Holocaust' are now available to view online. The lectures are entitled: 1 My Problems with Lessons, and 2. Why I prefer History. Originally presented 15 and 16 February 2016. Further information.

BBC-Manchester workshop for students

Online resource project. Holly Morse has organised two workshops with Amanda Hancox (BBC producer), R&T colleagues, teachers and students from local schools and colleges. The project is developing a set of online resources that allow academics at the University of Manchester to curate the BBC’s Beyond Belief archive on subjects close to their research. Both the resource and the workshop are designed for students currently engaged with, or interested in, the Religious Studies A-level. 1 and 3 June 2020. Email Sonja Bernhard if you're interested in attending by zoom.

Religion in... the Religion News Service

Vatican on two state solution. "Once again, the Vatican issued a statement reinforcing its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after the recently installed government of Israel announced plans to vote for the annexation of the West Bank territory..." 20 May 2020. Further information.

Religion in... the Religion News Service

Templeton Prize 2020. "Francis Collins, world-renowned geneticist and director of the National Institutes of Health, is the 2020 recipient of the Templeton Prize. The award, valued at 1.1 million British pounds (about $1.3 million), honors individuals who use scientific advancements to answer the deepest questions related to humanity’s existence and purpose..." 19 May 2020. Further information.

Religion in... Time Magazine

How Communion Rituals Will Likely Change. "After Churches Reopen. Holy Communion will have a different look when in-person worship services resume at the end of May in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee: The wafers signifying the body of Christ will be placed in the hands of parishioners by priests and deacons wearing face masks and safety glasses..." 19 May 2020. Further information.

Religion in... The New York Times

Prayer Mats, ‘Peppa Pig’ and Patience. "How I’m Raising My Muslim Kids Introducing the concept of God is daunting. For now, determination and a little humor will have to do..." 12 May 2020. Further information.

Religion in... The Times

Exorcism 'now an industry' in the UK, Government-ordered inquiry hears. "One activist said that 'the ritualised healing that takes places is often a pretext for sexual abuse..." 16 May 2020. Further information.

Religion in... The Guardian

Religion and contemporary ethics. "Jane Roe’s deathbed confession exposes the immorality of the Christian right. The plaintiff in the landmark supreme court case revealed she was paid to change her mind about abortion. Have anti-abortion activists no shame?..." 20 May 2020. Further information.

Webinar, UC San Diego

Japanese Religion. How do practitioners of Shinto, Buddhism and Japan’s various new religions reflect on and offer structure in times of crisis, such as the current pandemic? Erica Baffelli (Japanese Studies) will be in conversation on the role of religious institutions and individuals, and priests and laity, in providing a sense of cohesion and a social support system in hard times. 12:30am (BST) on 16 June 2020; register online and see further information.

New appointment

LTI postdoctoral researcher. The Department of Religions and Theology and the Lincoln Theological Institute are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Clare Radford (PhD, Glasgow) as the postdoctoral researcher at LTI for 2020-22. Her project is called 'The Embodied Everyday: Constructing Anti-Poverty Activism as a Theology of Practice'. We extend our warmest congratulations to Dr Radford on her appointment and look forward to welcoming her to the Department and the Institute in September.

Public Lecture, Manchester Wesley Research Centre

Annual Lecture.  The 2020 lecture will be given by Professor Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, Professor of Worship, Boston University School of Theology. The lecture is titled ‘Another Look at the Methodist/Wesleyan Love Feast: Reception, Adaptation, and Emerging Possibilities’. The lecture will be on Tuesday 16 June 2020 at 5pm at the J.B. Maclagan Chapel on the campus of Nazarene Theological College. It will be live-streamed on our YouTube page. A description of the lecture can be found on the MWRC website.

New publication

Islamic Studies. Alan Williams, 'Finding the Grain of Meaning' in Faith Initiative (2020), 12-15. Further information.

From the Archive... Podcast, Bogdanow Lectures 2015

Holocaust Studies. The 2015 Bogdanow Lectures by Prof. Christopher Browning on 'Agency in the Holocaust: Perpetrators, Survivors, Rescuers' are now available to view online. The lectures are entitled: 1. From Humanitarian Relief to Holocaust Rescue: A Young American in Vichy France; 2. Why Did They Kill?  Revisiting the Perpetrators; 3. Holocaust History and Survivor Testimony: The Case of the Starachowice Factory Slave Labor Camps. Further information.

Major research discovery

Dead Sea Scrolls. George Brooke has contributed to the analysis of scrolls held at the University that were thought to be blank but on which text has been found. Prof Brooke was involved in the relocation of the fragments to the Rylands Library in 1997, and has been acting as a consultant on these multi-spectral imaging (MSI) findings since March 2020. The discovery means that the University of Manchester is the only institution in the UK to possess authenticated textual fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further information.

Student awards, SALC

Making a difference.  In a competition open to all students in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, R&T's Alice Berkeley was winner of SALC's Outstanding Public & Community Engagement Initiative: Refugee and Asylum Seekers’ Conversation Club. Watch video clip.

From the archive... Podcast, Harvard University

New tools in analyzing ancient Jewish texts. A podcast is now available for a presentation Alex Samely gave at Harvard Divinity School in October 2014 entitled 'Written Religion: Some New Avenues in Analyzing Ancient Jewish Texts'. Further information.

Consultancy, Church of England

Academic quality assurance work. David Law recently participated in an online meeting of the Academic Board of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Examination in Theology, which under normal circumstances would take place at Lambeth Palace. The AET is a body that administers the research degrees (MPhil and PhD) that the Archbishop has the power to award. Further information.

Scriptural Encounters

Reading challenging sacred texts. Scriptural Encounters bring together different faiths to debate and discuss controversial topics. This is a new series on the position of women in the Abrahamic faiths. The first of three sessions will be by Zoom on Thursday 28th May 2020 from 4pm-5:30. Further information.

New publication

Christian Studies. David Law, 'Karl Barth und der Anglikanismus: Die anglikanische Rezeption und Wirkungsgeschichte bis 1986' in Benjamin Dahlke and Hans-Peter Grosshans (eds.), Ökumene im Denken: Karl Barths Theologie und ihre Interkonfessionelle Rezeption (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2020), 91-130.  The book considers the ecumenical potential of the theology of the Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968), and this chapter is a study of the Anglican response to Barth's theology from the 1920s to the centenary of his birth in 1986. Further information.

Reading Group Session, Jewish-Muslim Relations

Jewish Muslim Research Network. The next session of the JMRN reading group will be hosted online using Zoom on 14 May 2020, 4-5pm. The group is facilitated by Katharine Halls and Flora Hastings and the readings are Chapter 1 of Shahab Ahmed’s What is Islam? (2015) and Chapter 1 of Daniel Boyarin’s Judaism (2019). To join the meeting please register here.

Podcasts, Manchester Wesley Research Centre

Christian Studies. Video recordings are now available of recent presentations from two 2019 MWRC Visiting Research Fellows: Dr Ingrid Reneau Walls, ‘The Enchanted Universe of Amanda Berry Smith: A 19th Century African-American World Christian’, and Prof Andrew Walls: ‘Conversion and the Search for Real Christianity in Western Christendom’. Further information.

From the Archive... Podcast of Sherman Lectures 2015

Jewish Perspectives on Christianity and New Testament Studies. The 2015 Sherman Lectures by Amy-Jill Levine on 'Jesus, Judaism and Christianity: Old Prejudices and New Possibilities' are now available to view online. The lectures are entitled: 1. Jesus in His Jewish Context: The Importance of Recovering History, 2. The Mistakes Jews and Christians Make About Each Other, 3. Is the New Testament Anti-Semitic? and 4. Messianic Judaism, Conversion to Christianity, Intermarriage, Inter-religious Households: Disputes for the Sake of Heaven. Further information.

Paper, online conference, New York University

Dead Sea Scrolls. George Brooke is giving a paper entitled 'Patterns of Prayer in the Dead Sea Scrolls' at the online conference 'The Dead Sea Scrolls in Recent Scholarship' hosted by New York University. Open to the public. 17-20 May 2020. Further information.

Annual Lecture, Manchester Wesley Research Centre

Christian Studies. The 2020 lecture will be given online by Professor Karen B. Westerfield Tucker (Boston University School of Theology) and is entitled ‘Another Look at the Methodist/Wesleyan Love Feast: Reception, Adaptation, and Emerging Possibilities’. 5pm, Tue 16 June 2020. Further information.

Guest lecture

Robotics and religion. Scott Midson gives a digital lecture (via Zoom) on the topic of roboethics and human-robot interaction to colleagues in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) at The University of Manchester, as well as to students enrolled on the Mobile Robots and Autonomous Systems module. 27 April 2020. Watch on YouTube.

New publication

Christian studies. Peter Nockles, 'The current state of Newman scholarship' in British Catholic History (2020) 35:1, 105-127. Further information.

Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects

Jewish studies. Stefania Silvestri has published blogposts by artist Kremena Dimitrova. Kremena is working on an art piece inspired by the manuscript Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil’s Sefer Mitzvot Qatan (Semaq) which is part of the 50 Jewish Objects project. Further information.

Podcast, Japan on the Record

Religion in Japanese Studies. In this episode, Erica Baffelli (Japanese Studies) calls attention to the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Tokyo Sarin Gas Attack, discussing how Aum Shinrikyō became violent, what role women played in the group, and how media coverage of the 25th anniversary was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 16 mins. 15 April 2020. Listen to podcast.

Reading group, phenomenology

Art and phenomenology. Alex Samely will convene the reading group on 'Phenomenological Engagements with Art', with works by Heidegger, Levinas, and Nancy. The next meeting will be 1 May at 5.30pm on Zoom. Further information.

From the Archive... Podcast of Sherman Lectures 2014

Thinking about the Jew in Medieval Europe. The 2014 Sherman Lectures by  Miri Rubin on 'Thinking about Jews in Medieval Europe: Explorations with Text, Images and Sounds' are now available to view online. The lectures are entitled: 1. People and Places, 2. The Jewish Body, 3. Jews and Children, and 4. Jews and Material Christianity. Further information.

Research group, Religion and Minority

Religion in secular society. The research group 'Religion and Minority: Lived religion, migration and marginalities in secular society' is funded by ESRC and AHRC and develops long-term collaboration between researchers based at UK and Japan, working on ‘religious minority’ issues and on minority groups inside religious organisations. It is led by Erica Baffelli (Japanese Studies) and Takahashi Norihito (Tojo University). The objective of the network is to investigate ‘marginality’ and the concept of ‘minority’ in religious contexts, both from the point of view of how minority groups are constructed and defined in different cultural and social contexts, and in terms of how marginalised groups use religion to construct their identity vis-à-vis the larger society and/or to negotiate their place inside religious traditions. Further information.

New publication

Religion in Japanese Studies.  Erica Baffelli & J. Caple, 'Religious Authority in East Asia: Materiality, Media and Aesthetics' in Asian Ethnology 78:1 (2019), 3-23. Further information.