We are interested in hearing from students wishing to undertake postgraduate level work in Old Testament Studies at the doctoral level. Please contact one of the supervisors below if you are thinking about applying for a PhD in their subject area.
Professor Joachim Schaper: Supervision can be offered in: the field of the study of Deuteronomy, with special attention to the interaction between Deuteronomy and (other) legal texts in the Hebrew Bible, on the one hand, and to the place of Deuteronomy in the development of Israelite religion, and especially the rise of monotheism from the seventh century BC onwards, on the other; the history of the Hebrew language from its beginnings to the Hellenistic period, with a special view to classical Hebrew poetry; subjects related to the Minor Prophets, especially on Haggai and Zechariah 1-8, as well as Trito-Isaiah, and on the parallels (or lack thereof) between Israelite and Neo-Assyrian prophecy; any area of the history of ancient Israel and Judah, especially the late pre-exilic and the Persian periods; any aspect of the theology and literary history of the Pentateuch, with a special interest in the role Deuteronomy played in that history; any aspect of the Greek Bible, and especially on the Pentateuch and the Old Greek Psalter.
Dr Nathaniel Greene: Supervision can be offered in: Northwest Semitic languages and literatures broadly conceived (but especially those of the Levantine Iron Age through to the early Roman period and including Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Canaanite Dialects), West Semitic scribal praxis, the Deuteronomistic History—especially studies focusing on the Book of Samuel and its compositional history, complimentary studies within Hebrew Bible that bring together both textual and archaeological remains of the ancient Near East, the social and political history of ancient Israel, and archaic state formation.
Dr Jakub Zbrzeżny: Supervision can be offered in: textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible and its versions (Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic), the First Book of Maccabees and its reception, sacrifice in Second Temple Judaism, Jewish traditions in the Christianity of Late Antiquity and early Islamic period, Palestinian Arabic dialects and culture as vehicles for understanding the Bible, and, as a co-supervisor for projects involving computer scientists, application of machine learning to Semitic languages.
Affiliated staff
Dr Sam Newington: Supervision can be offered in the field of ancient Greek religion with particular focus on comparisons with Biblical and Near Eastern traditions (creation narratives especially).
