Samuel Ferguson Lecture 2023

Christian Theology. On Thu 1 June 2023, in partnership with Manchester Cathedral, the Department presents the 2023 Ferguson Lecturer, Prof. Willie James Jennings (Yale University). There is a presentation at 12 noon at Manchester Cathedral, titled "Considering Hope as a Discipline", and a lecture at the University at 4pm, titled "A Good Assimilation: Christian Faith and the Expansions of Identity" in C1.18, Ellen Wilkinson building. A reception will follow. Both events are free to attend--and tickets are not required. Further information here.

New Publication

Dead Sea Scrolls. George J. Brooke has published “Wisdom and Torah in the Hodayot and the Great Psalms Scroll: the Place of Prayer in Understanding Some Early Jewish Pedagogy,” in Between Wisdom and Torah: Discourses on Wisdom and Law in Second Temple Judaism, edited by JiSeong J. Kwon and S.A. Bledsoe (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2023), 275–94. Further information.

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Careers Service News

For final years. As you head into the final weeks of your degree, you may be thinking about your future career or further study options. The Careers Service is here to support you now and for up to two years after you finish your course. This means you can continue to make full use of CareerConnect, our online portal for all types of vacancies, events, careers appointments and more. However, it's important that following your graduation, you sign-up for a graduate account on CareerConnect by following the steps in this blog. You can stay up-to-date with our graduate careers support by joining our Recent Graduate Careers Network on LinkedIn.

Conference Announcement

 

Religion and Art. Hon. Research Fellow Siobhán Jolley invites papers for The Art of Creation Conference, London, 5 September 2023. Scholars, artists, theologians, faith leaders and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines are invited to participate in this one-day conference exploring the intersection of art, theology, and ecology. The conference aims to foster dialogue and collaboration between these fields and encourage innovative approaches. We invite short papers of 20 minutes that explore the relationship between art, theology, and ecology in relation to at least one of three works of art from the National Gallery’s permanent collection – Monet’s Flood Waters; van Gogh’s Long Grass with Butterflies; Ruysch’s Flowers in a Vase. Deadline: Wednesday 31 May 2023. Further information.

Liberal Arts Day Trip

Liberal arts. The liberal arts staff and students had a field trip to Castleton on 14th May, which was organised by Student Reps and funded by SALC. They had lunch, a walk up to and around Peveril Castle, and time for ambling/shopping in and around the village.

New Publication

Religion and education. Eve Parker has just published 'Class in the Classroom: Social Class and Theological Education’ in Confounding the Mighty: Stories of Church, Social Class and Solidarity, published with SCM Press. Further information.

Careers Service News

For MA students. Thinking about a PhD after your Master’s? Join the Careers Service on 20 June (12-1pm) for an online workshop to help you explore your options, and hear from some current PhD students about the daily realities of their research. Sign up here.

Conference Announcement

 

Methodist Studies. The MWRC and the Société d'Études du Méthodisme Français (SEMF) are co-sponsoring a multi-disciplinary conference on Les Mouvements de Renouveau Protestant dans le Monde Francophone/Protestant Renewal Movements in the Francophone World. The conference will take place 1-3 June 2023 in Montpellier. The conference language is French. This will be a hybrid conference with video participation possible. Questions may be addressed to David Bundy: dbundy@nazarene.ac.uk. Further details can be found here.

Liberal Arts Conference

Liberal arts. Scott Midson co-founded with colleagues in Leeds and Durham the the Liberal Arts Northern Network (LANN), which recently hosted an undergraduate student conference. The event took place in Leeds on the 5th May and included student papers, networking opportunities, and workshops focused on employability skills and narrating experiences on your interdisciplinary degree programme.

Two Online Book Launches

 

Methodist Studies. The MWRC will host two online book launches in June. A book launch of John Maiden’s Age of the Spirit: Charismatic Renewal, the Anglo-World, and Global Christianity, 1945-1980 (OUP, 2022) will be on Wednesday 7 June from 5-6pm and feature responses to the book from Drs David Bebbington and Leah Payne. A book launch of Christopher H. Evans’s Do Everything: The Biography of Frances Willard (OUP, 2022) will be on Saturday 10 June from 6-5pm and feature responses to the book from Drs Annemarie McAllister, Randall J. Stephens, and Carole Spencer. Details about both events are available here.

BBC Radio 4, 'In Our Time'

Japanese Religion. Erica Baffelli was a contributor to In Our Time on the topic of ‘The Shimabara Rebellion’, the 1637-8 Christian uprising in Japan, which led the Shogun to close the country to foreigners for the next 250 years. Listen Again.

Short Course

Religion and Technology. Scott Midson is running a half-day online course: "About the AI and Theology: What Can Robots Teach Us About Love?" exploring 'lovotics' and the questions raised when designing robots to foster feelings of love at Sarum College, 17 July, 1-4pm. Further information.

Conference Paper

Early Christianity. Sarah Parkhouse will be presenting "Coptic Apocrypha and Monastic Space" at the 2023 APOCRYPHA: Storyworlds in Transition conference at the Norwegian Institute in Rome, 6th–8th June. For details on the project, see here. 

Ehrhardt Seminar in Biblical Studies

  

Biblical Studies. This week, the Ehrhardt seminar will host Alan Garrow's paper ‘The Didache Discoveries: Two Texts Within One’. Thursday, 2pm. Please contact lev.eakins@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk if you are interested in joining.

Funding Success

Public Theology at Manchester Cathedral. Dominic Budhi has been awarded the postgraduate research incentive fund from the Faculty of Humanities to distribute knowledge from his thesis ‘A critical evaluation of the public theology of Manchester Cathedral’. Dom will be writing a journal article, giving public lectures at various cathedrals, and putting together a public theological workshop to run with clergy and staff at these cathedrals to help them think public engagement and the role that public theology can play in helping them in that context. Congrats Dom!

Careers Service News

Graduate careers. Future Fortnight 2023 is taking place Monday 12 – Friday 23 June. The fortnight programme of careers support and events will help you kickstart your graduate career after exams. Featuring a mixture of online and in-person support, support is available to you whether you’re still in Manchester or have moved away. Events are open to all students and graduates, but will be particularly useful for final year students due to graduate in summer 2023. View the full programme and register.

BBC Radio 4, 'In Our Time'

Jewish and Biblical Studies. George Brooke was a contributor to In Our Time on the topic of ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls’, the revelatory collection of Biblical texts and other documents dating from around 250 BC to AD 68, which were first rediscovered in a cave in 1946. Thu 4 May. Listen Again.

Ehrhardt Seminar in Biblical Studies

 

Biblical Studies. This week, the Ehrhardt seminar will host Alison Salvesen's paper ‘Symmachus, ‘the translator of the Jews’: what a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible can tell us about religious life in Palestine in the early third century CE’. Thursday, 2pm. Please contact lev.eakins@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk if you are interested in joining.

New Publication

Religion and politics. Michael Hoelzl has published "Schwimmen, Spiritualität und Politik", in Lebendige Seelsorge, 74. Jgahrgang, 1/2023, pp. 6-9; 12-13. Further information.