REF2021 appointment

National research exercise. Prof emeritus Philip Alexander, FBA, has been appointed as an expert in Jewish Studies to REF2021 Panel 31 (Theology and Religious Studies). The REF is the UK’s system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. Further information.

Reading Group

Hannah Arendt's The Life of the Mind. All meetings will take place on Wednesdays, at 5pm via zoom. Please contact Professor Alex Samely (alex.samely@manchester.ac.uk) for a zoom invite. First Semester two meeting: 3 Feb 2021. Further information.

Religions & Theology Research Seminar

Christian Theology. Dr Leah Payne (George Fox University, Oregon), “Gender and Pentecostal Revivalism: Making a Female Ministry in the Early Twentieth Century”. 4pm, 18 Feb 2021. Further information.

Podcast, Jewish Renaissance

Jewish Studies. Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Post-Doctoral Fellow Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz joined a panel podcast with the philosopher and rabbi Sam Lebens and Clive Lawton on the subject of Hanukah. 16 Dec 2021. Listen again.

Event programme, Luther King House

Christian theology. Luther King House is one of our partner institutions and is located in nearby Fallowfield. It represents Baptist, Methodist, United Reformed and Unitarian traditions. See their programme of activities, incuding a conference on Theology and Aging (29-30 Jan 2021).  Further information.

Event programme, Nazarene Theological College

Christian theology. The Nazarene Theological College is one of our partner institutions and is located in nearby Didsbury. Associated with the Church of the Nazarene, which emerged in the nineteenth-century, NTC belongs to the World Methodist Council. See their programme of activities, including video-conference events on 'Faith and Media' (8 Feb) and 'When the World Crumbles: Reading the Book of Job in the Pandemic' (1 March). Further information.

Editorial board appointment, Lit Verlag

Political Theology. Michael Hoelzl has been appointed to the editorial board of the Religion-History-Society series of the publisher Lit Verlag. Michael has overall responsibilities for philosophy, Jewish Studies and Islamic Studies. Further information.

New publication

Jewish Studies. Hon. Research Fellow in the Centre for Biblical Studies, Helen R. Jacobus, "Zodiacs of Heaven and Earth" in Representing Jewish Thought. Proceedings of the 2015 Institute of Jewish Studies Conference Held in Honour of Ada Rapoport-Albert. Edited by Agata Paluch (Leiden: Brill, 2021), 186-217. Further information.

Faculty award for student

Undergraduate academic excellence. It is with great pleasure that we report that Adam North, who studied for our BA(Hons) in Theological Studies in Philosophy and Ethics, has received the Faculty of Humanities Dean's Award for Achievement 2020, which recognizes the top eschalon of the undergraduate graduating year within the Faculty of Humanities. Adam is currently studying for an MA in Religions & Theology.

Update, Honorary Research Fellow

Biblical Studies. David Lamb, one of our Honorary Research Fellows, has recently completed a year's research in sociolinguistics as a Visiting Scholar at Bangor University, working with Professor Thora Tenbrink, the Director of Research for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Business. He focussed on an aspect of Systemic Functional Linguistics known as Appraisal Theory and sought to apply it to the Gospel of John and Hellenistic Greek biographies. He presented a summary of his work at the (online) University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity New Testament Research Seminar in November 2020 and is intending to present a revised version of this paper at the Ehrhahrdt Seminar on 11th March.

New publication

Dead Sea Scrolls. George Brooke, “Esoteric Wisdom Texts from Qumran” in Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 30:2 (2020), 101-114. Further information.

Samuel Ferguson lecturer 2021, Rowan Williams

Christian Theology. In partnership with Manchester Cathedral, the Department announces that the 2021 Ferguson Lecturer is Dr Rowan Williams (Cambridge). The lecture will focus on the writings of Maria Skobtsova (1891-1945), poet and political exile, who developed a unique ministry in Paris with refugees and destitutes, and was eventually killed by the Nazis because of her active support for French Jews. The lecture will take place on Thursday 4 March 2021 at 4 PM, by Zoom. For registration and further details, see further information.

Podcast, Limmud

Jewish Studies. Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Post-Doctoral Fellow Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz contributed a session at Limmud panel entitled 'Unity and Tradition: The Tower of Babel'. 28 Dec 2020. Watch again.

Podcast, Limmud

Jewish Studies. Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Post-Doctoral Fellow Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz was part of a distinguished Limmud panel discussing Orthodox women rabbis. See 14:00-24:00, followed by Q&A. 27 Dec 2020. Watch again.

Postdoctorate fellowship opportunity, Jewish Studies

Call for proposals. The Rothschild Foundation 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 Feb 2021. Further information.

Social responsibility, OxNet

Widening participation. The OxNet programme, which partners the Department of Religions & Theology with Oxford University, is designed to attract A-level students located in the North of the UK, selected by Pembroke College, Oxford. It aims to encourage the study of religions and theology at university, among other areas in the humanities. This year's seminar programme theme, designed by Michael Hoelzl, is on 'How to Change the World with Words' with sessions led by Michael Hoelzl on 'How to do things with Words', Katja Stuerzenhofecker on 'How to find the right words and how to take your word for it: Interpretation, testimony and power', Clare Radford on 'Can sharing lived experiences create change?',  Stefania Silvestri on 'Words on Objects, Objects with Words', Holly Morse on 'The First Woman Question: Eve and the Women’s Movement', and Scott Midson on 'How AI is changing the world with words: Communication and chatbots'. The live online series will take place fortnightly 9 February to 23 March 2021. It is organised by Felix Slade (Pembroke College, Oxford) and Sonja Bernhard (University of Manchester). Contact: sonja.bernhard@manchester.ac.uk.

Letter to the Church Times

Christian Theology. David Law has written to the Church Times on the subject of 'Nature of the Expectation of Jesus' and whether and in what sense the birth of Jesus Christ was foretold by the Old Testament prophets. 8 January 2021. Further information.

New position, research associate

Research Associate in Hebrew Manuscripts. Applications are invited for the post of Research Associate in Hebrew Manuscripts, to produce an online catalogue, compliant with current cataloguing and metadata standards and to promote The University of Manchester Library’s Hebrew collection. The post is part-time and fixed term from 1 March 2021 to 30 June 2022. Salary: £32,816 to £40,322 per annum pro rata according to experience (0.9 FTE on grade 6). Deadline: 25 Jan 2021. Further information.