Due to popular demand, the deadline for entries for The University of Manchester Making a Difference Awards has been extended.

The new closing date is midnight on 24 January 2021. It is hoped the extension will help anyone struggling to meet the deadline due to the current challenging times.

The Making a Difference Awards provides the opportunity for staff, students, alumni and external partners to highlight the great work that goes on at The University and the huge difference they are making to the lives of others.

The Awards are open to all staff, students, alumni and external partners at The University. . The Awards aim to celebrate, raise awareness and provide valuable recognition of how individuals and teams across The University are making a difference to the social and environmental wellbeing of our communities and wider society.

The award categories include the following:

• Outstanding benefit to society through research
• Outstanding teaching innovation in social responsibility
• Outstanding contribution to social innovation and environmental impact through enterprise
• Outstanding public and community engagement initiative
• Outstanding contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion
• Outstanding Professional Services for social responsibility
• Outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability
• Outstanding contribution to widening participation
• Volunteer of the Year Award

Further information, award criteria and the entry form can be found on the .

The University of Manchester’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures (SALC) will be hosting a celebration to mark the strength and resilience of its students in a virtual event.

The celebration will take place at 3pm on Wednesday 16 December 2020, and will be available to view and return to on the .

These celebrations are an opportunity to recognise the accomplishments of students throughout their studies, particularly acknowledging the resilience and strength they have shown over the course of a challenging year.

After the celebration, students will have the opportunity to attend a live, virtual event with staff and classmates from their Department.

Links for the celebrations will be sent out to students via email and are intended to complement the winter graduation ceremonies.

SALC encourages students to follow the SALC and accounts @UoMSALC to share positive memories and experiences of their time at The University of Manchester, using the hashtags #SALCGrad and #UoMGraduation and to direct any questions to salcstudents@manchester.ac.uk.

Time and date information

SALC Virtual Celebration

3pm on Wednesday 16 December

Department-specific live events (links to follow)

Art History and Cultural Practices: 4.30pm, Wednesday 16 December

Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology: 5pm, Wednesday 16 December

Drama and Film: 4pm, Friday 18 December

English & American Studies and Centre for New Writing: 5.30pm, Wednesday 16 December

History: 10am, Thursday 17 December

Humanitarian Conflict Response Institute: 4pm, Wednesday 16 December

Linguistics and English Language: 5.30pm, Wednesday 16 December

Modern Languages and Cultures: 4pm Wednesday 16 December

Music: 4pm, Wednesday 16 December

Religions & Theology: 1pm, Thursday 17 December

CBS: How did you first become in engaged with scrolls research?

GB: My first encounter with a Dead Sea Scroll was in 1965 when my father took me, aged 13, to see the Scrolls Exhibition at the British Museum. That exhibition also came to the Rylands Library. There were long queues down Deansgate as people waited to get in. Then as an undergraduate reading Theology at Oxford, I attended lectures on the Scrolls and eventually my postgraduate studies in California came to focus on the early Jewish biblical interpretation in the Scrolls.

CBS: When did you first come across the Rylands fragments?

published by Oxford University Press for their Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs series, deconstructs the dominance of Eve’s cultural incarnation as a flawed female and reconstructing a more nuanced presentation of the first woman’s role in the Bible and beyond.

Dr Morse aims to destabilise the persistently pessimistic framing of Eve as a highly negative symbol of femininity within Western culture by engaging with marginal, and even heretical, interpretations that focus on more positive aspects of her character. In doing so, this book questions the myth that orthodox, popular readings represent the ‘true’ meaning of the first woman’s story, and instead explores the possibility that previously ignored or muted rewritings of Genesis 2-4 are in fact equally ‘valid’ interpretations of the biblical text that allow a more complex image of Eve as a knowledge bearer and a mourning mother to emerge.

This prestigious Chair was established in 1904 at the same time as the establishment of the Faculty of Theology in what was then the Victoria University of Manchester. Enriqueta Rylands established the John Rylands Library in her husband’s name, and she also endowed the Rylands Chair which was to combine higher and lower criticism. The holder of the chair has normally been involved in the oversight of teaching and research in Biblical Studies in the Department.

There have been seven distinguished holders of the Chair to date, all scholars in fields related to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the New Testament, or both: AS Peake, CH Dodd, TW Manson, FF Bruce, B Lindars SSF, CM Tuckett, and GJ Brooke. The chair has remained vacant since Professor Brooke’s retirement in 2016.

“I feel highly honoured to be appointed, and somewhat daunted by the list of wonderful scholars who have held the Chair before," said Peter. "I’m very grateful for colleagues in the Department and in the Ehrhardt Seminar, past and present, who have taught, advised and supported me over the years in ways that have helped bring this about. I’m also delighted that the Chair has now been filled again, ending the gap there has been since George Brooke retired at the end of his outstanding tenure of the position. I am particularly appreciative of the way in which he built the collegiality of the scholarly community here and kept it at the forefront of academic research. I hope to help us continue developing in both these ways."

This appointment reflects the global reputation of Peter's research, which contextualises the New Testament through new insights on historical economics and the archaeological evidence of social structures.

Siobhán was one of a small number of students from North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) institutions invited to spend 5 days on a fully-funded residential visit to the BSR, led by Dr Sian Bonnell (Reader in Wilful Amateurism at 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University). Other participants included researchers in History and English Literature and practice-based students of Fine Art, Photography and Creative Writing.

BSR is one of the most prestigious research academies in Rome. For over 100 years, world-class researchers of the art, history and culture of the western Mediterranean and the best contemporary artists in the Commonwealth have been nurtured here.

It is the bridge between the intellectual and cultural heart of Rome and Italy and creative and academic researchers from Britain and the Commonwealth. Residents have access to the Library 24/7 during their residency. The 16 desks in the Garden Rooms are reserved exclusively for residents and also for visiting members, Research Fellows and Honorary Fellows. Residents are welcome to borrow books from the Library to use in their rooms.

The interdisciplinary programme included lectures and seminars with fellows and staff, as well as visits to specialised sites of interest related to the workshop in Rome. As well as undertaking research in the library and archives, Siobhán was able to use independent study time to visit a number of churches and galleries that house artworks which form part of her PhD research into the reception of Mary Magdalene in Baroque art.

The trip offered a unique opportunity to undertake on-site research and membership of a historic academic institution. Siobhán will work with other members of the cohort on a collaborative project based on their research and experiences during the residential, Rome: A Place of Imagination.

A virtual guide that tells the story of what it was like to live in New Testament times has been launched by the Centre for Biblical Studies.

Led by Prof Peter Oakes, this vivid new resource transports readers to Pompeii, where the city’s rich evidence of ancient living conditions provides key information for understanding urban Christian gatherings at a time long before church buildings were built.

The virtual guide ‘Entering Early Christianity via Pompeii’ uses real dwellings and meeting places in the Roman town to explore into how diverse groups of people formed new communities and worked out the day-to-day implications of their new faith.

The guide  to anybody with an interest in Christian origins, New Testament texts or Roman history, and users are invited to submit their thoughts using the Feedback section of the page.

The professor of Theology gave a paper called ‘Pauline Churches as “Learning Spaces” – Colossians and Ephesians as a Test Case’.

He argued that Pauline communities of Christ-believers in the early ‘Post-Pauline’ period (ca. 60-90 CE) underwent a transformation from an initial ‘religion of conversion’ to a ‘religion of tradition’. This brought up some important shifts in self-identity, which Prof Dettwiller illustrated using the epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians. He argued that such necessitated a continuous effort to reinterpret their religious heritage in order to show its everyday relevance in a new historical context.

This took the form of several key questions, including: how and why should they remember their foundational religious experience; how should they interpret in a new way the symbolic world of the Christ-event in order to show its universal significance; how should they regard Paul, their most important teacher, present among the communities after his death only by way of his letters and, perhaps, his companions; and how should they act as communities of Christ-believers in their daily life, and should they interact within the wider cultural context of the Roman Empire?

Prof Dettwiler made a compelling case to support his argument, utilising a key text of phenomenological (or comprehensive) sociology and theories on space in the field of contemporary sociology. Unsurprisingly, this stimulating paper led to lively discussion which continued well into the reception afterwards.

TW Manson was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at 91ֱ�� from 1936 until his death in 1958. Manson's publications while Rylands Professor were highly influential to the extent that several works are still in print today. To that end, each October a distinguished New Testament scholar gives a lecture in New Testament studies in his memory.

Siobhán followed in the footsteps of fellow PhD candidates Sam Rogers and Justin Daneshmand who attended the programme - now in its fifth year - in the last two years. Like Justin, Siobhán was awarded a full scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauchdienst (DAAD).

The International Summer School ‘German (and) Theology’ is provided by the Faculty of Protestant Theology in liaison with the Centre for Continuing Education (ZWW) and DaF - German as a Second Language, in cooperation with the School of Divinity, University of St. Andrews.

The objective is ‘to provide young international academics with an intimateness with German theology’.

Scholars, doctoral students and other post-graduates of theology, religion or related fields were invited to study at the evangelisch-theologische Fakultät of Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, and to experience the language, thought and intellectual world of German theology. Lecturers on the programme included: Professor Ulrich Volp (Ecclesiastical History and History of Doctrine), Professor Ruben Zimmermann (New Testament), Professor Michael Roth (Systematic Theology), Professor Volker Küster (Intercultural Theology), Professor Wolfgang Zwickel (Biblical Archeology), as well as specialized language tutors from the department of Deutsch als Fremdsprache.

The course was attended by participants from five continents with a range of backgrounds and German-language ability. In addition to daily lectures and workshops in Theology, participants completed a language course which offered an introduction into theological and conversational German in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the German theological discourse.

The curriculum was complemented with excursions to central sites of German theological and ecclesiastical history located in Mainz, Worms and Speyer. Furthermore, all participants were welcome to attend the regular theology lectures and seminars in order to get an impression of the teaching program of one of the leading German theological departments.

Libraries and further academic institutions were also available for the participants’ own research.

As well as improving her German and knowledge of German theology in context, the course offered Siobhán a unique opportunity to meet and study with a diverse group of academics.

She looks forward to putting all of the above to good use as she continues with her research.

The programme will next run in 2021 and more information is available .

The Oberhessische Presse - on the 1 August 2019 - dedicated a half-page spread to the opening because the last meeting there, in 1954 (chaired by Rudolf Bultmann) marked a key step of reintegration of post-war German biblical scholarship into international discourse.

Peter chaired one of the papers, while another paper was presented by . Fred gained his PhD here in 2012, under the supervision of Todd Klutz and Peter. Fred is now Principal and Professor of Theology at St. Stephen’s College at the University of Alberta, Canada.

The  recently demonstrated that, although women make up 65% of the church in the UK, 62% of these women have experienced some form of sexism in the church. 

More than half of the respondents also indicated that this was a problem that existed on an institutional rather than on an individual level.

These statistics and others make it clear that research on gender, both in the Bible and the church, is sorely needed.

The Bible, Gender and Church Research Centre aims to foster research in biblical gender studies, as well as through various projects to affect change in the church and academia so that both women and men can be empowered to ‘live life to the full’.

The centre is a joint initiative between Cliff College and The University of Manchester.

The inaugural lecture for the BGC took place during Cliff Festival, on Monday the 27 May 2019.

Rev’d Dr Susan Shooter delivered a lecture entitled ‘Yet in my Flesh Shall I See God: Researching Faith With Survivors of Abuse’.

This was followed by responses from Dr Holly Morse and Dr Kirsi Cobb, as well as a reception for all participants.

The event brought together students from The University of Manchester, Durham University and The University of Edinburgh.

The day comprised of a number of student papers on a range of biblical themes and was concluded by a keynote address from Professor Francis Watson (Durham).

The full programme of events is detailed below, but the contributions from 91ֱ�� were:

• David Bell - “The Lord as ἔκδικος in 1 Thess 4:6: on Whose Behalf?”
• Anna Budhi - “Cicero’s Unshakable Virtus and the Masculinity of Jesus the Defendant”
• Justin Daneshmand - “Secret, Mystery, or Something Else?: A Proposal for Reconceptualising the So-Called ‘Messianic Secret’ or ‘Suffering Secret’ in Luke”
• Siobhán Jolley - “Killing Adam’s Eve: Latent Biblical Imagery in BBC America’s Killing Eve”

The success of the day marked the continuation of a now established link between the centres at these three universities and reflected the breadth and depth of research that is being undertaken in the field of biblical studies.

Thanks must be offered to Durham University for their hospitality in hosting the event, and we look forward to continuing the collaboration in years to come.

The full programme of papers

• Peter Baker (Durham) – “The Eminence of Biblical Narrative? Story and Singularity in Karl Barth’s Theological Exegesis”
• David Bell (91ֱ��) – “The Lord as ἔκδικος in 1 Thess 4:6: on Whose Behalf?”
• Anna Budhi (91ֱ��) – “Cicero’s Unshakable Virtus and the Masculinity of Jesus the Defendant”
• Justin Daneshmand (91ֱ��) – “Secret, Mystery, or Something Else?: A Proposal for Reconceptualising the So-Called ‘Messianic Secret’ or ‘Suffering Secret’ in Luke"
• Brandon Hurlbert (Durham) – “Will the Real Ehud Please Stand Up? Towards a Negative Reading of Judges 3:12-30”
• Luke Irwin (Durham) – “Platonic Recollection and the Sinai Theophany in John 5:37"
• Siobhán Jolley (91ֱ��) – “Killing Adam’s Eve: Latent Biblical Imagery in BBC America’s Killing Eve”
• David J. McCollough (Durham) – “Prescription and Coherence in Luke-Acts”
• Lydia Morey (Durham) - “Reading Paul’s Language of Purity in Various Different Contexts”
• Annalisa Philips Wilson (Durham) – “The Misstep into Slavery: Gal 2 as Stoic Reasoning for the Sufficiency of ‘Faith in Christ Jesus’ and Contingent Value of Torah Observance”
• Kelsie Rodenbiker (Durham) – “P72 in the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex: An Antecedent to the Catholic Epistle Collection?”
• Richard Rolfing (Durham) – “Presenting a Paradox of Presence: Revealed Concealment or Actual Absence?”
• Logan Williams (Durham) – “Love and Volition in Paul’s Christology and Praxis”

The last decade has seen a mushrooming of our awareness of remains of First- and early Second-Century synagogues in Galilee and Judaea.

On 10-11 April 2019, an international conference at University of Lausanne brought leading archaeologists together with historians and textual specialists to investigate these early Jewish meeting halls, so different from the prayer-hall type synagogues of the later, Byzantine period.

One controversial question was whether sacred meals took place in the early synagogues – an idea at odds with Rabbinic texts.

Prof Peter Oakes, from the Centre for Biblical Studies and the Department of Religions and Theology at 91ֱ��, contributed to this question and others with a paper exploring the relationships between meeting, eating, and types of first-space in use by the earliest Christian groups which were, in many ways, akin to synagogue gatherings.

Professor Peter Oakes from the Centre for Biblical Studies has contributed to a book produced by the recent European Research Council funded project, ‘Re-thinking Judaism’s Encounter with the Roman Empire: Rome’s Political and Religious Challenge to Israel and its Impact on Judaism (2nd Century BCE – 4th Century CE)’.

As well as Professor Oakes’ involvement, one of the full-time project researchers was Dr Kimberley Fowler, who completed her BA, MA and PhD at The University of Manchester and is currently lecturing in New Testament at the University of Durham.

Professor Oakes’ article argues that politeumain Philippians 3:20, usually translated ‘citizenship’, can instead be usefully likened to a Jewish governing body in a city (outside Israel) which oversees smaller Jewish communities in surrounding villages.

The article includes the first English translations of key papyri that show this in action for Jews in Egypt.

The colloquium, born in part from the long-standing association between the University of Manchester and the University of Lausanne, addressed a number of topics associated with the theme.

The event was hosted at the University of Chester on 2 May 2019 and in 91ֱ�� on 3 May 2019.

As well as the programme of papers outlined below, participants also enjoyed a visit to an exhibition about Charles Kingsley at Chester Cathedral Library (curated by Professor George Brooke) and a tour of the Roman sites and the Grosvenor Museum.

It is hoped that the success of the event will prove the cornerstone to future collaboration.

Thursday, 2 May

• Welcome and Introductions (Prof. Peter Oakes)
• Dr David Lamb, University of Manchester - ‘The Boundaries of Love: Us and Them Language in 1 John 2:19’
• Dr Benedict Kent, Universities of Manchester and Chester - ‘Transgressive Reciprocity between God the Father and Jesus 'the slave' in Philippians 2:5-11’
• Siobhán Jolley, University of Manchester - ‘Mary Magdalene and the Gendered Boundaries of Love’
• Dr Mat Collins, University of Chester - ‘Demonic Love Actually: Asmodeus and Boundary Crossing in the Book of Tobit’

Friday, 3 May

• Professor David Hamidovic, University of Lausanne -‘Love as Social Disruption: About Erotic Philtres and Incantations in Ancient Judaism’
• Dr Walter Houston, University of Manchester - ‘Marrying out? The construction of boundaries in Ezra 9-10’
• Dr Holly Morse, University of Manchester - ‘Sex a/object: Women's Bodies and Ethnic Boundaries in Deuteronomy 21, Ruth 3 and Ezekiel 16’
• Dr Mi Ja Wi, Nazarene Theological College (91ֱ��) - ‘‘You will receive power to cross the boundaries’: An examination of Acts 1:8’
• Peter Atkins, University of Chester - ‘The Relationship between Gods, Humans, and Other Animals: Crossing Boundaries in Daniel 4 and the Ancient Near East’
• Dr Todd Klutz, University of Manchester - ‘The Story of Judas in the Gospel of John: Redrawing the Boundaries of the Christ Cult’
• Discussion

Prof Oakes' distinguished career brought him to the University of Manchester in 1997 and his enormous contribution has been recognised with his professorial appointment.

Prof Oakes is the first Professor of the New Testament at the University of Manchester, a fact which serves only to underscore his achievements.

Introduced by Prof Peter Scott, Prof Oakes gave a paper entitled 'New Testament, Empire and Economics: From archaeology via audience lives to interpretation of texts'.

The subject matter brought together several aspects of Prof Oakes' work, including patronage, economics and social structure in the New Testament, and the earliest Christian audiences of the text.

Prof Oakes argued that economics offers a route into understanding the New Testament as a set of texts written for non-elite audiences in the first-century Roman empire. He focused upon three texts in particular:

• "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities!" (Romans 13:1).
• "These people all act in opposition to the decrees of Caesar" (Acts 17:7).
• "Sell what you have and give to the poor!" (Mark 10:21).

He also explained how Pompeian archaeological evidence helps us to think through aspects of the lives of first-century non-elite people and to gain some understanding of the implications for them of the range of New Testament ideas.

The lecture was well received, as was the vote of thanks offered by Emeritus Professor George Brooke to conclude the event!

Prof Oakes was joined by much of the audience at the subsequent reception.

Members of the Centre were delighted to congratulate Prof Oakes on his much-deserved achievement.

Members of the Centre for Biblical Studies had the opportunity to participate in an academic study trip to Northern Greece.

The group also included faculty and postgraduate research students from two other universities (Liverpool Hope and KU Leuven), and some independent researchers.

We visited Thessaloniki, Philippi, Kavala (Neapolis), Amphipolis, Thasos, Pella, Veria (Berea), Vergina, and Dion.

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit archaeological sites, old ruins, ancient churches, and a number of museums.

The trip afforded us personal exposure and teachings in situ. It was incredibly enriching for our understandings of ancient Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian contexts.

We arrived in Thessaloniki and spent the first three nights there, then Thasos the following two, and finally Thessaloniki again for the remaining four days.

Breakfasts and dinners were included, affording us the opportunity to enjoy authentic and delicious Greek cuisine.

Every day we had breaks for coffee/snacks, lunch, and other free time to explore.

Nothing, in particular, was scheduled for our first day upon arrival, which allowed participants to explore the city and visit some suggested locations, such as the Jewish Museum, Hagia Sophia Church, or Church of the 12 Apostles.

On the second day, we visited Hagios Demetrios basilica, the Roman Forum and museum, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, and then an academic session at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on "Women Deacons in Early Christianity".

We travelled on the third day to Veria (Beroia) and visited the Archaeological Museum there, then visited the Lefkopetra temple of the Mother of Gods, and afterwards went to Vergina (The Royal Tombs Museum).

Destined for Thasos on the fourth day, we saw Amphipolis and Kavala (ancient Neapolis, the main seaport of eastern Macedonia) along with their museums as well as Keramoti before taking a ferry to the island.

The following day we attended the Archaeological Museum before walking around the Ancient Agora and then hiking up to the Acropolis of Thasos.

We even had time to see Aliki (ancient marble quarries) and return with the opportunity to go swimming just off the shore of our hotel and resort! 

On the sixth day, we returned to the mainland and spent the day at the ancient Roman colony of Philippi (site and museum) where Prof Peter Oakes gave short presentations on particular archaeological artefacts relating to his research.

On Sunday, after attending the Greek Orthodox Palm Sunday Liturgy (Hagia Sophia Church in Thessaloniki) we voyaged to Pella for the archaeological site and museum.

The following day we saw the site of Dion and its museum, returning to for a presentation by Dr Ekaterini Tsalampouni on "Women in the Orthodox Church" at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. 

On the last day for scheduled events, we walked up to the City Walls, visited the Vlatadon Monastery, and saw the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki.

After a lovely farewell lunch participants began to depart or explore the city before leaving the next day.

Our trip to Northern Greece was a memorable and educational experience!

The visit was organised by Prof George Brooke, the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis Emeritus at The University of Manchester.

Prof Brooke curated the exhibition and gave an informative presentation before guiding members around the exhibition and the Cathedral. Prof Peter Oakes, who has a familial connection to Dean Howson, also gave a short presentation.

The exhibition has been organised for the 150th anniversary of the first year of John Saul Howson, DD, as Dean of Chester (1867-1885), with particular celebration of his establishment of the Nave Choir and the commissioning and installation of mosaics in the Cathedral.

Further information, including the exhibition catalogue, can be found on the .

Members of the seminar enjoyed a wonderful day in Chester. Special thanks must go to Prof Brooke and Canon Jane Brooke for their hospitality on the day, and to Prof Brooke for organising such an excellent excursion.