SALC research showcase: Environment

Environment and religion. Finlay Malcom will be speaking at the SALC research showcase. The theme is Environment. Tue 14 May 2024, 12:00-5:30 PM at Kanaris Theatre, Manchester Museum, M13 9PL. Further details.

Ehrhardt Seminar in Biblical Studies

 

Biblical Studies. On 11th April, Dan Batovici (KU Leuven/University of Cambridge) will give a paper "Clement of Rome in Syriac Biblical Manuscripts." University Place 6.208 and Online. Please contact Lev Eakins if you are interested in joining.

International Conference Paper

Political philosophy and religion. Samuel O'Connor Perks will present a paper "Simone Weil, the Catholic Worker Movement and contested readings of Marx" at the workshop "The Politics and Ethics of Labour" at the American Weil Society colloquium, April 26-27th, Université of Montréal.

Film event, Drama with Centre for Jewish Studies and German

Holocaust Studies. You are invited to the screening of Farewell, Herr Schwarz (Germany/Israel, 2014) followed by filmmaker Q&A session. Yael Reuveny’s documentary attempts to answer for the filmmaker herself why her great-uncle, a Holocaust survivor, chose to resettle in East Germany after the war and start a family there; a life her family in Israel only learned about after his death in the late 1980s. The event takes place on Monday 15 April 2024, 12:00 – 15:00. Please email katja.stuerzenhofecker@manchester.ac.uk for venue details.

Rylands Lunchtime Seminar

Digital humanities. On 30 May, Kamran Karimullah, Hammood Obaid & Charlotte Hoare will give the lunchtime seminar at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library on "Translation, Teleology and Technology: Digital Humanities Studies of the Ancient World". 1pm. All events are online and free for anyone to attend! Booking here.

National Student Survey (NSS)

Help your department! The National Student Survey is completed by final-year undergraduates at universities across the UK. It runs from Mon 29 January to Tue 30 April 2024 and there's a prize draw for an iPad and vouchers. Universities and students' unions use student feedback to see how we can keep delivering high quality teaching, and future students can see the results to help them make degree choices. Please take the survey!

Podcast, Bible and Beyond

Biblical studies. Sarah Parkhouse spoke about a possible new fragment of the Gospel of Mary on the popular podcast Bible and Beyond. Listen here.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Workshop

Jewish studies. HRF Ion Popa has been working in the last few years as a historical consultant for the Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust (PERH) at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). This summer they are hosting a research workshop, with Ion as leader, titled: "Finding Religion in the USHMM Collections: New Methods for Archival Research" (July 29-August 2). This in-person workshop will allow participants to explore a recently developed research guide that highlights the diversity and scope of the USHMM’s archival collections that relate to religion (broadly defined); conduct independent research, and discuss methodologies and findings with other participants and USHMM staff. Further information including how to apply.

Event: Gospel of Mary: Received and Retold

Biblical studies. Registration is now open for "The Gospel of of Mary: Received and Retold" at the University of Manchester and online, 16th May. Scholars, artists, and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines are invited to participate in this one-day symposium exploring the creative reception of the Gospel of Mary. This event will bring together research and practice from across disciplines including biblical studies, performance, storytelling, and art history, fostering dialogue and collaboration. Speakers include academics from multiple disciplines, performers and historical consultants from film and tv. This event is part of a broader research project exploring feminist storytelling, the Gospel of Mary and Jo Blake’s The Witness, and a portion of the event will focus on this work in particular. Registration is free but booking is essential. Register here.

Student travel grant

Holocaust studies. As part of her bequest to the University of Manchester, Prof. Fanny Bogdanow funded an annual lecture series and a number of student travel bursaries for educational visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau. This year the Centre for Jewish Studies can allocate up to 2 awards of £400 each. Application deadline: 8 April 2024. For more details on eligibility and how to apply, see further information.

Public Lecture

Biblical studies. Andrew Boakye gave the 5th Annual Race, Theology and Justice lecture at the University of Durham on March 13th 2024. The paper was entitled ‘The Pain Beneath the Protest: Paul, the Gospel and Currents in Racial Discourse’. It assessed and discussed Christian responses to the use of Critical Social Theories about race (CRT) in anti-racist activism and Paul’s gospel as a possible refractive lens for mediating the positive results of CRT in anti-racist dialogue in religious spaces.

R&T and BBC co-create Exciting Learning Tool

Online learning resource. A team of academics from the department have created ‘Going Beyond Belief’, a new learning resource for A Level students, with the support of the BBC Beyond Belief team. The resource has unique contributions with a range of specialisms including Christian theology, Jewish studies, Islamic studies and Biblical Studies, as well as expertise in understanding the complex relationships between religion(s) and philosophy, science, and textual studies, and explorations of highly contemporary issues such environment, sexuality, gender, race relations, and artificial intelligence. “It’s an exciting and unique way to learn about Religions and Theology,” said the project leader, Holly Morse. See the longer press release and the resource.

Event at National Gallery

Biblical studies. CBS Hon. Research Fellow Siobhán Jolley is running a National Gallery Friday Lates on "Mary Magdalene: Woman and Witness" as part of Women's History Month. She will be joined by the performance artist and storyteller Jo Blake and together they will discuss Mary Magdalene, the relationship between different modes of creative retelling, and the art of feminist storytelling. Further information.

Nominations for outstanding staff awards

Teaching excellence. Students can nominate in eight Award categories. A list of categories and criteria, as well as further information and links for the nomination forms for the students, can be found on the Outstanding Staff Awards student intranet webpage. The closing date for nominations for the Outstanding PGT Dissertation Supervisor Award is midnight on Friday, 7 June 2024. The closing date for nominations for all other award categories is midnight on Monday, 6 May 2024. Further information.

New podcasts, Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies 2024

Holocaust Studies. We are delighted to announce that the Bogdanow Lectures 2024 are now available to view online. The series is entitled 'The Return of the Repressed: Ukraine's Unresolved Pasts' and was presented by Prof. Omer Bartov (Brown University). Lecture 1: History, Myth, and Fiction: Narratives of the Ukrainian Past. Lecture 2: Coexistence and Violence: The Reality and Memory of Genocide in Ukraine. View podcasts.

Wesleyan Theological Society 2024

Christian Theology. Honorary Research Fellow and First Vice-President of the Wesleyan Theological Society Geordan Hammond reports: The Wesleyan Theological Society held its 59th Annual Meeting, March 1-2, 2024 on the campus of Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Thomas A. Noble (Nazarene Theological College). The book "Holiness and Pentecostal Movements" by David Bundy, (Manchester Wesley Research Centre), Geordan Hammond (Manchester Wesley Research Centre), and David Sang-Ehil Han (Pentecostal Theological Seminary) was one of two recognized with the Smith/Wynkoop Book Award.