Presentations, Limmud

Jewish Studies. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz (Seeing God in the Bible, Going native: An anthropologist at Limmud, A scream in the night: Isaiah and social justice) and Katja Stuerzenhofecker ('The synagogues were closing, what could we do as women?' British ritual adaptation under COVID-19) will be presenting at Limmud Festival 2021, the UK's largest annual Jewish cultural event taking place on Dec 24-28. Further information.

New publication

Biblical Studies. CBS honorary research fellow Mary Mills, 'City as Sustainable Environment' in The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Ecology edited by Hilary Marlow and Mark Harris (OUP, 2022). Further information.

New publication

Biblical Studies. CBS honorary research fellow Mary Mills, 'Jeremiah's Deathscapes' in The Oxford Handbook of Jeremiah, edited by Louis Stulman and Edward Silver (OUP, 2022). Further information.

Public lectures, online

Jewish and Muslim Studies. CJS Hon. Research Fellow Michael Hilton announces a new course 'Judaism and Islam: A shared history' that he is leading with Dr Harith Ramli of Edge Hill University. The next session is 'Is every Torah scroll/Quran mushaf the same? ', 25 Jan 2022. Email for further information.

New publication

Jewish Studies. CJS honorary research fellow Michael Hilton, "4th July 2020: Parashat Chukkat" in Confronting Covid-19: Liberal and Reform Rabbis in the United Kingdom Respond to the Global Pandemic, edited by Charles Middleburgh (2021), 124-128. Further information.

New publication

Religion and Science.  CJS fellow BL Lancaster, 'Transpersonal psychology: Mysticism and the science of mind' in D. A. MacDonald and M. Almendro (Eds.), Transpersonal Psychology and Science (Cambridge Scholars Publishin, 2021), 33-42. Further information.

Religion in the media, 2021

Review of the year. The Religion Media Centre offers an overview of the top stories from 2021. "Covid-19 transforming worship and communities… faith groups reaching vulnerable people on the front line… moral judgments on refugees… climate change… sex abuse… assisted dying… racism..." 17 Dec 2021. Further information.

Blog entry, Rylands Library

Jewish Studies. Stefania Silvestri has written a blog post 'From Calcutta to Tarcento: Jewish marriage contracts from the collections' for the John Rylands Institute and Library. 17 Dec 2021. Further information.

New publication

Jewish Studies. CJS fellow BL Lancaster, 'The Faces of God: A kabbalistic “myth” and its implications for consciousness' in P. Dennison (Ed.), Perspectives on Consciousness (Nova Science, 2021), 277-317. Further information.

The Jewish Chronicle, article

Jewish Studies. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, "Limmud: when British Jews enjoy a few days of Utopia" in The Jewish Chronicle, 15 Dec 2021. Further information.

Course unit surveys

Teaching quality. If you've enjoyed your teaching and/or have views on what could be improved, please let us know via these 5 min surveys. It really does make a difference in terms of how we develop what we teach, and helps identify and reward some of our best lecturers. The course unit surveys will be open until 9 Jan, but please fill them out sooner rather than later! Further information.

Conference keynote lecture, USA

Christian Studies. Peter Nockles will give a keynote lecture on '“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God”: Saint John Newman, the Role of Friendship and Personal Influence in the Oxford Movement'. National Institute for Newman Studies, Pittsburgh, US. 7pm, 11 March 2022. Further information.

PhD completion

Jonathan Dunn on Christian theology and Ethics. The Lincoln Theological Institute would like to congratulate Jonathan Dunn on the successful defence of his doctoral thesis ‘A critical appraisal of inaugurated eschatology as a basis for social and political ethics in evangelical theology in the United States of America’. His supervisors were Prof. Peter Scott and Dr Scott Midson, and the external examiner was Prof. Tom Greggs. See the list of current PhD students at LTI.

Public Lecture, University of Sheffield

Islamic Studies. Alan Williams, 'A Night with Rumi: A Celebration of Love'. University of Sheffield, Arts Tower LT04. 8 Dec 2021. Further information.

Exhibition, 50 Jewish Object project

Jewish studies. Four objects from the 50 Jewish Objects are currently on display in the John Rylands Research Institute and Library gallery. See Stefania Silvestri's blog on the exhibition. Nov 2021 - April 2022. Further information.

Seminar on Moses Gaster

Jewish Studies. This academic year (2021-22) the John Rylands Research Institute will complete the online cataloguing of the codices in Hebrew script in the Rylands Library Manchester. To mark the occasion the John Rylands Research Institute and the Manchester University Centre for Jewish Studies are hosting a series of seminars in autumn 2021 and spring 2022 which will explore aspects of the Rylands Gaster collection, and related collections. The next seminar in the series is by Dr Stefania Silvestri, “Not Only Books: Understanding Artefacts in the Rylands Gaster Collection”. 7 Dec 2021, 2.00-3.30pm, online. Further information.

Early Career Research training, India

South Asian Studies. John Zavos has just spent two weeks (virtually) in India, first in Kerala in the week commencing 6/12, then in Nagaland in the week commencing 13/12, facilitating week long workshops funded by the British Academy on Effective Academic Writing. The workshops are designed to build capacity amongst Early Career Researchers in parts of India where research infrastructure is less readily available. We brought together a team of scholars from India, Norway, and the United Kingdom, all of whom work in different disciplines within the field of South Asian Studies, to facilitate workshops on applying for grants, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, impact and knowledge exchange and other aspects of building your academic profile. We also established a mentoring programme for the session participants, sustained over the next year and culminating in a further workshop, this one hopefully face to face, in India in December 2022. Further information.

Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects Project

Jewish art. As part of the activities of the 50 Jewish Objects project, creative pieces are commissioned for contemporary artists in response to selected artefacts from the John Rylands Library and the research produced by Dr Stefania Silvestri. In the first blogpost by artist Daniel Gouly he discusses the creative processes behind his new commission. Further information.

Jewish Telegraph Agency

Jewish Studies. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz features in "The rabbi working to get more women in leadership roles in Great Britain’s Orthodox community". The Jewish Telegraph Agency, 17 Sept 2021. Further information.

BBC Radio 4, Sunday Programme

Religion and Technology. Scott Midson was on the Sunday Programme to discuss AI and the Humanities. 5 Dec 2021. Listen again (starts 30 mins in).

Conference paper, Romania

Biblical and Jewish Studies. Maria Cioată, 'Traditional Reactions to Modern Higher-Criticism: the Case of Dr. Moses Gaster' at the Second International Symposium on Biblical Exegesis in Timișoara, 11-13 November, 2021. Further information.

New publication

Christian Studies. Peter Nockles, "Newman and the Oxford Movement: A Pre-History of Ecumenism (1833-1870)", in A History of the Desire for Christian Unity. Ecumenism in the Churches (XIXth-XXIst Century), directed by A. Melloni, coordinated and edited by Luca Ferracci, Vol I: "Dawn of Ecumenism”, pp. 132-163, Brill, Leiden, 2021. Further information.

New publication

Islamic Studies. Kamran Karimullah, 'Islamic Law Medicine and Public Health 800-1800' in Quaderni di Diritto e Politica Ecclesiastica (2021). Further information.

New publication

Biblical Studies. Maria Cioată, 'The Collection of Dr. Gaster at the Library of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest', in M. Cioată, A. Miltenova, E. Timotin (eds.), Biblical Apocrypha in South-Eastern Europe and Related Areas, Proceedings of the Session held at the 12th International Congress of South-East European Studies (Bucharest, 2-6 September 2019), [Bibliothèque de l’Institut d’Études Sud-Est Européennes 16] (Brăila, Editura Istros, 2021), 277-312.

Podcast, Humanities at Manchester

Christian theology. "Why I am now a Climate Researcher" by Professor Peter Scott, Religions and Theology. Watch YouTube.

Preview of Masterclass

Religion and technology. During lockdown lasy year our Department pulled out all the stops and, in addition to offering our usual suite of courses, we produced for our students a new non-credit course on a variety of topics that currently interest our researchers. Here is just one example session: Scott Midson's Masterclass on 'Communication and Chatbots: How AI is Changing the World with Words'. Further information.

Bernard Jackson Prize 2021

Postgraduate prize. This prize of £100 is awarded annually to the student with 'the highest grade for a master's dissertation in Jewish Studies' at the University of Manchester. It honours the Centre's second co-director Bernard Jackson. For 2021 it was awarded to Emily Warner for a thesis on 'Levinas and the Feminine Other: What is the significance of the feminine within the face-to-face encounter?’ (Supervisor: Professor Alexander Samely).

Hassé Memorial Prize 2021

Postgraduate prize. This prize of £250 is awarded annually for the best MA dissertation in the area of the study of Religions and Theology. For 2021, it was awarded to Emily Warner for a thesis on 'Levinas and the Feminine Other: What is the significance of the feminine within the face-to-face encounter?’ (Supervisor: Professor Alexander Samely).

Postgraduate Thesis Prize for Religious Studies and Social Responsibility 2021

Postgraduate prize. This prize of £60 is awarded annually to for the best PG thesis in R&T that explores a social or ethical challenge at the intersection of religion and social responsibility. For 2021 it was awarded to Amina Ansari for 'Women and Islam in Contemporary Arabic Literature: An Investigation of Two Short Stories' (Supervisor: Dr Dalia Mostafa).

Brandon Memorial Prize 2021

Postgraduate prize. This prize of £100 is awarded annually for the best MA dissertation in the area of Comparative Religion. For 2021, it was awarded to Adam North for 'The Performance of Telling the Truth: The Foucauldian Reconstruction of Parrhesia and its Contemporary Significance' (supervisor: Dr Michael Hoelzl).

Panel discussion, COP26

Christian Theology. As part of the series created by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow to mark COP26, Peter Scott discussed 'Theologies of Environmental Justice' with David Clough and Doug Gay.  Watch on YouTube.

BBC Radio 4, Beyond Belief

Jewish Studies. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz appeared as part of a panel discussion on 'Orthodox Jewish women'. 4.30pm, 29 Nov 2021. Listen again.

Public debate, Al-Mahdi Institute

Interfaith studies. David Law gave a paper at an inter-religious symposium at the Al-Mahdi Institute in Birmingham, a Shiite theological college. The topic of the symposium was 'Redemption in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity'. 25 Nov 2021. Further information.

Blog, The Conversation

Jewish-Christian relations. CJS fellow Tony Kushner, ‘The Church of England is apologizing for medieval antisemitism – why now?’, The Conversation, 16 July 2021. Further information.

Research paper, Romania

Holocaust Studies. CJS fellow Ion Popa gave a presentation (in person) entitled 'Jewish Dissidence in Romania and the Persecution of Zionists in the First Decade of Communism (1945-1955)' at the Federation of Jewish Community of Romania/Centre for the Study of Romanian Jewish History. 25 November 2021. Further information.

Conference paper, Austria

Holocaust Studies. CJS fellow Ion Popa gave a presentation (online) entitled "Forgotten Archives, Forgotten Stories – The Persecution of Zionists in Communist Romania in the Context of Jewish Dissidence (1945-1955)" at the conference "Precarious Archives, Precarious Voices: Expanding Jewish Narratives from the Margins" organised at the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies. 19 November 2021.  Further information.

Church of England, consultation

Biblical Studies. CBS fellow Loveday Alexander works as a theological consultant for the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England, identifying critical biblical resources to inform decision-making on a range of practical issues in the day-to-day life of the church, including: part of a team advising the House of Bishops on liturgical aspects of the church’s response to the Covid pandemic; on-line interdisciplinary conference on Deliverance Ministry in January 2022.

New publication

Biblical Studies. CBS fellow Loveday Alexander, ‘The Gospel according to Celsus: Celsus’ Representation of Christianity’ in James Carleton-Paget and Simon Gathercole (eds), Celsus in his World: Philosophy, Polemic and Religion in the Second Century (Cambridge: CUP 2021), 254-86. Further information.

New publication

Biblical Studies. CBS Fellow Loveday Alexander, ‘What is a Gospel?’, ch.1 in the revised second edition of Stephen Barton and Todd Brewer (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Gospels (Cambridge, CUP 2021). Further information.

New publication

Dead Sea Scolls. George Brooke, 'Dead Sea Scrolls' in Walfish BD, Furey C, Römer T, editors, Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (Berlin: de Gruyter, Walter GmbH & Co. 2021). Further information.

Post-doctorate opportunity, Jewish Studies

Call for proposals for post-doctoral fellowship. The Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe offers a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Jewish Studies for two years. The Foundation only allows one application per institution, and so there will be an internal selection process for The University of Manchester. Internal deadline: 1 Dec 2021. Further information.

Sherman Community Lecture 2021

Jewish Studies. Prof George Brooke (University of Manchester) will give the next Sherman Community Lecture entitled "Questioning Qumran: Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls". Thu 9 Dec 2021 8pm (online). Further information.

Hebrew manuscripts

Jewish Studies. Over a hundred Hebrew manuscripts have been added to the Manchester Digital Collections at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library. The internationally-renowned Hebrew collections are astonishingly diverse, covering all aspects of Jewish life as lived in Europe, North Africa and further afield. These manuscripts have been digitised and catalogued as part of an ongoing project led by Philip Alexander and Alex Samely. For the first time, expert catalogue descriptions by Research Associate Zsófia Buda, developed from previous work by Alex Samely and Stefania Silvestri, are available alongside ultra-high-quality images of the items themselves. Further information.

BBC Radio 4, Thought for the Day

Religion and the media. Hon. research fellow Rt Revd Dr David Walker has been on the Today Programme delivering the 'Thought for the Day', a faith-based reflection on some aspect of current news. Recent examples include the fall of Kabul to the Taliban (15 Nov) and the racism scandal in cricket (22 Nov). Further information.

Blog entry, Jewish Book Council

Jewish Studies. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, "‘You Mean Superstitions?’: Exploring the Customs of Orthodox Jewish Women". "'Oh — you mean superstitions?'. This was how most of my interviewees reacted when I asked them about Orthodox Jewish women’s customs and practices..." Further information.

Public panel, Muslim Chaplain

Islamic Studies. 'Being Muslim at UoM: Islamophobia Awareness Month 2021.' "Please join us as we discuss our experiences of what it is like to be a Muslim at our University and how we navigate the various challenges and opportunities within the university setting. The event will be hosted by Mohammed Ullah, Muslim Chaplain for The University of Manchester...' Mon 29 November at 12:30pm. Further information.

Research seminar, AMES

Islamic Studies. Dr Hasnaa Mokhtar (Rutgers University’s Center for Women’s Global Leadership): 'Empowering Muslim Women in History, Literature and the Arts', as part of the Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies programme.Wed 1 Dec 2021, 17:00 GMT on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94322283750

New publication

Political theology. Michael Hoelzl and Ute Leimgruber, 'Ressentiment als pastoraltheologische Herausforderung' in Weiter Gehen. Eine Roadmap ins Offene. Hrsg. u.a. von Maria-Elisabeth Aigner (Wuerzburg: Echter, 2021). Further information.

Guest lecture and masterclass, University of Graz

Political Theology. Michael Hoelzl presented on the topic of pastoral power: 'Das Grundproblem der Pastoraltheologie und seine politische Relevanz.' He also conducted a postgraduate masterclass on philosophy and ethics of decisionism: 'Was heisst es, sich zu entscheiden?' 15-16 November 2021.

Conference paper, Poland

New Testament Studies. PhD student Mateusz Krzesinski read a paper entitled 'The Identity of ἔθνη in Rom 2.14-16' at the conference '"Own" or "Outsider" (Jews - Christians - Muslims)' organised by the Institute for Cultural Text Research at the Polish Senior College of Theology and Humanities (Wyższa Szkoła Teologiczno-Humanistyczna). 25 Oct 2021. Further information.