Biblical Studies research seminar

Biblical Studies Faculty host weekly research seminars each semester. Postgraduates, faculty, and visiting scholars meet to discuss research on a chosen theme. Papers last between 45 and 60 minutes and are followed by discussion. After seminar, participants and presenters often continue conversation in a local pub.

In Semester 1, the seminar covers Hebrew Bible, Ancient Judaism, New Testament, and Early Christianity. In Semester 2, Hebrew Bible and New Testament Faculty each host their own weekly seminars.

Semester 1 2025-2026

Seminars will take place on Thursdays from 2:00-3:30pm and will be a mix of in-person (College Hall, St Mary’s College) and online on Microsoft Teams. Contact Dr Madhavi Nevader ([email protected]) for the Teams link.

18 September – Welcome tea
25 September – William Tooman (St Andrews), “Crafting Complexity: Character Comparison/Contrast in Ancient Greek and Hebrew Literature”
2 October – Joachim Scharper (Aberdeen), “‘But thou hast arranged all things by measure and number and weight’: Cosmology and Justice in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism”
9 October – Alexiana Fry (Copenhagen), “‘Golah, Golah, Golah, Golah’ (Est. 2.6): Exile, Diaspora, and Trauma in MT Esther” (Teams)
16 October – Alice Mandell (John Hopkins), “Top-Down and Bottom-Up: The Topsy-Turvy Monumentality of Ancient Judean Tombs” (Teams)
23 October – No seminar (Independent Learning Week)
30 October – Nathanael Vette (KCL), “Noon of the Living Dead: Roman Omens and Matthew’s Zombie Apocalypse (27:52–53)”
6 November – Philip Alexander (Manchester), “Rabbinic Judaism and the New Testament—Reconsiderations after Forty Years”
13 November – Bruno Biermann (Münster), “‘Who Set Me as a Seal …?’ Historical and Archaeological Perspectives on the Remembering and Forgetting Seal Wear in the Hebrew Bible” (Teams)
20 November – No seminar (SBL)
27 November – Yeshwanth Bakkavemana (St Andrews), “Widening the Methodological Horizons: Introducing the Psychology of Persuasion to the Sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls”
4 December – Madison Pierce (St Andrews), “The Texts Make the Man: Scriptural Interpretation and ‘Messianism’ in the New Testament”