🎉 New book day! It’s been available early in National Gallery shops for a couple of weeks now but yesterday was official publication day for Saints. Available now at all good book shops and the billionaire bad ones too.

A few pictures from our department over the last semester: - Susannah Cornwall presenting at the R&T seminar - Michael Hoelzl Church on Wheels Interview - Ehrhardt seminar in honour of Todd Klutz - MA module trip to Manchester Art Gallery - Holly Morse delivering a paper in Trinity College Dublin

Remember to check out our blog for all departmental happenings! (More active and up-to-date than on here!) manchester-religions-and-theology.blogspot.com We also have a monthly newsletter you can subscribe to!

Exhibit open April 11, 2026 – August 2, 2026 @ransomcenter.bsky.social Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/... @thejohnrylands.bsky.social

20th April: Susannah Cornwall (University of Exeter) will present "Structural Sin and the Death of Institutions" in our departmental seminar. Join us: 3–4.30pm, University Place 5.209/Teams. manchester-religions-and-theology.blogspot.com/2026/03/reli...

We've launched the website for our 'Coptic in Manchester: Connecting Manuscripts and Communities' UKRI-funded project ('26–28) with @thejohnrylands.bsky.social ! Please share! sites.google.com/view/coptici...

Congratulations to recent PhD grad Adam North who has been awarded best overall paper for "The Ethical Way of the Warrior: Can Traditional Martial Arts Offer an Ethical Template for Modern Athletes?" at the International Sport & Discrimination Conference in Dublin, March 2026.

Siobhán Jolley and Dawn Llewellyn will be discussing ''Faith, Art, and Feminism' in response to the wonderful exhibition of Lilian Delevoryas’ work, ‘Mary Magdalene: Apostle to the Apostles’ at Chester Cathedral on Tuesday, March 31st at 2pm. Free to attend. chestercathedral.com/events/event...

We are pleased to advertise a postdoctoral fellowship at the Lincoln Theological Institute, from 01/09/2026 - 31/08/2028. The closing date for applications is 19/04/2026. Informal enquiries are very welcome. Full details in the Further Particulars. www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/internal/Job...

The Peake Lecture will take place 21st March 2026 at Nazarene Theological College, M20 2GU. 9.30am to 4pm. ‘From Miriam to the Magdalene: Women Witnesses in the Bible and Beyond’ by Siobhán Jolley and Samual Hildebrandt. For further details and to book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/peake-trus...

Congratulations to Daniel Langton whose book, Darwin in the Jewish Imagination: Jews' Engagement with Evolutionary Theory (Oxford University Press, 2025), has been longlisted for the International Society for Science and Religion's 2026 book prize.

We're filling up fast for Monday's celebration of Sarah Lightman and the launch of our new @uomreligion.bsky.social project, Encountering Biblical Bodies! Book your place and please share if you know folks around Manchester who have a body (biblical or otherwise) at tinyurl.com/BibWomen

The exhibition is up both in the Glass Corridor and online. Online link in comments.

IN THREE WEEKS: Encountering Biblical Bodies - Sarah Lightman’s Biblical Women 📅 16 March, 4.30–6.30pm 📍SG.16, Samuel Alexander Building 🎟️ https://ow.ly/f1lT50YkjC4 Join us for a research café discussing an exhibition of artist Sarah Lightman’s Biblical Domestic and Menstrual Hystery series.

Gearing up for welcoming our Offer Holders this afternoon!

Paid opportunity for students!! Return to your old school/college to chat about your experiences of studying at Manchester. manchester-religions-and-theology.blogspot.com/2026/02/paid...

www.youtube.com/shorts/wWj33...

📣 New Book Day! 📣 Delighted to share a sneak peek at Saints, my new picture book for grown ups. She’s a beauty, written with everyone who‘s ever wandered round the NG with me in mind Coming this June to the NG shop and online, but available for preorder now: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9781857...

For the first time, Manchester Islamic Society and Manchester Christian Union are co-hosting a joint event to learn, discuss and understand each others' faiths in an open, friendly environment. Wednesday 4th February, 7-9pm in Academy 3, Student Union.

Lecturers in Biblical Studies have been awarded a Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies Grant for the project "Encountering Biblical Bodies". Holly Morse & @siobhanjolley.bsky.social are working with colleagues across @uomsalc.bsky.social to host an exhibition & and symposium. Watch this space!

Congratulations to Rachel Miller who has successfully completed and defended her PhD "Of Metaphors and Men: An Intersectional Analysis of Women’s Agency, Men’s Violence, and Victim-Blaming in the Hebrew Bible". 👏

Our recent PhD grad, Anna Budhi Thornton is leading 'How to Read the Bible' sessions at @mancathedral.bsky.social

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 Ferguson lecturer is Prof. Maureen Junker-Kenny (Trinity College, Dublin). Further information: lincolntheologicalinstitute.com/ferguson-lec...

Our Rylands Prof Peter Oakes argues that questions arising from the textual sources of the early Christ movement can only be adequately answered when they are embedded in the lived reality of people in the first century as part of the ECCLESIAE Project. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo3M...

Congratulations to Seoyoung Kim who has been appointed Lecturer in Applied Theology and Ministry Placements Programme Lead at the Belfast School of Theology. Seoyoung recently completed a PhD in our department in ecotheology.

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies will be delivered on 16 & 17 February by Professor Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor and chair of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/bogdanow2026

Introducing our new student-led Religious Studies Society! Follow them on Instagram - rs_uom or drop an email at [email protected].

New Publication by Peter Oakes: ‘Did Paul Write for Asterix? The Extent of Celtic Ethnicity in Galatia and the Audience of Galatians’, in The First Urban Churches 8: Galatia and Lycaonia, ed. James R. Harrison and L.L. Welborn (2025), 91-112. cart.sbl-site.org/books/064223...

Over the four evenings of 27-30 October, our HRF Stephen Barton gave the Didsbury Lectures 2025 at the Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, on the theme, ‘The conversion of the emotions in early Christianity’. Watch them here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBw1...

Look out for us at SBL/AAR in Boston! @siobhanjolley.bsky.social, Holly Morse, Scott Midson, and Kengoro Goto are all presenting papers or speaking on panels & our friends at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre are hosting a session.

Such a treat to have @katieturnerphd.com at @uomreligion.bsky.social today for our Ehrhardt Seminar sharing her brilliant research.

27 November: Manchester Jewish Museum is hosting a panel on Jewish suffragettes and Jewish women’s experiences. The event is presented in collaboration with the Pankhurst Museum and will feature our Honorary Research Fellow and recent PhD grad, Sherry Ashworth. www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com

Next Monday our R&T research seminar welcomes Meghan Rose Donnelly talking on 'The Convent in the Community: How secular Use of Sacred Space Contributes to Catholic Nuns’ Pursuit of the Good in Eastern Indonesia'. 3pm, Samuel Alexander A116 & online.

Scott Midson has been interviewed on Radio 4's 'Sunday' programme with Robert Beckford about the future of TRS degrees on 2nd November. The segment starts about 11:30, with Scott on from about 16:00. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Tonight – Manchester Cathedral will host a launch for Dominic Budhi-Thornton's book 'Public Theology in the Post Secular Age - Lessons Learned from Manchester Cathedral'. Dom's book is based on his PhD research that he completed in our department.

Dr Andrew Mein (The Queen’s Foundation) is presenting at our Biblical Studies research seminar today. The paper "Mapping Biblical Reception: Questions, Answers, Stories" will be given at 3pm, Samuel Alexander Building A116 (& online).

The 2025 Didsbury Lectures will be delivered by our hon research fellow, Dr Stephen C. Barton. The theme is 'The Conversion of the Emotions in Early Christianity'. His case studies will be: anger, grief, and joy. October 27th - 30th, 2025, 7:00 PM, NTC Chapel. nazarene.ac.uk/didsbury-lec...

Daniel R. Langton has published Darwin in the Jewish Imagination: Jews' Engagement with Evolution Theory (Oxford University Press, 2025). This book offers the first major study of Jewish responses to Darwinian evolution, one of the most transformative and contested ideas of the industrial age.

R&T research seminar TOMORROW: Erica Baffelli (UoM) '"A place to belong, a place that needs you, a place you can go home to": (Negative) Emotions and Belonging in Minority Buddhist Communities in Japan'. 3–5pm in Samuel Alexander A116 and online.

Grant Macaskill, Manson Lecture 2025.

Tomorrow! Grant Macaskill, Manson Lecture, 4pm.