Professor Helen Bond – RSE Grant Success

Professor Bond will work closely with Co-Investigators Professor Heike Omerzu (University of Copenhagen) and Professor Catrin Williams (University of Wales) on this two-year project. Two further researchers are based at the University of Manchester and Australian Catholic University.

The project involves workshops at Edinburgh and Copenhagen, leading to a co-authored volume, Crafting Lives of Jesus (to be published by Bloomsbury). A panel discussion on the Edinburgh Passion Play will be held on 9 May at New College, where members of the team will discuss modern retellings of the life of Jesus.

‘Crafting Lives of Jesus’ explores both Christian engagement with biography-writing and the power of life writing and performance for shaping diverse communities. This dynamic, interdisciplinary project brings together expertise in literary studies, early Christianity, and performance studies with work in gender, disability, reception studies and community cultural development, to illuminate cutting-edge scholarly questions and facilitate innovative community engagement. We have two main foci: (1) examination of ‘lives of Jesus’ as a particular phenomenon within Christianity from the first century to the middle ages, (2) exploration of modern retellings of Jesus’s biography through a public panel discussion of the Edinburgh Passion Play 2025, involving members of the project and the play’s director. The panel will highlight the malleability and potential relevance of ‘lives of Jesus’ to modern and local concerns (gender relations, poverty, hope, inclusion etc), insights which will then inform a deeper and more nuanced analysis of historical material.

The RSE’s Research Awards Programme runs twice a year in spring and autumn. It aims to support Scotland’s research sector by nurturing promising talent, stimulating research in Scotland, and promoting international collaboration.

63 exceptional research projects were selected at the autumn 2024 Research Awards open call including Professor Helen Bond and Dr Linden Bicket.