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Judith Damian, Mag. theol.

[Übersetzen nach: English]
Research Assistant

Judith Damian Mag. theol.

+49 0 62 21 54 192 -55
judith.damian(at)hfjs.eu
Website
"Demokratie leben!"-Projekt: "Medienkompetenz im Zeichen des Nahostkonflikts"

Dissertation project and research focus

Dissertation project

"Jewish Salonnières and Their Engagement with Religious Identity around 1800" (working title)

Main research areas and interests

  • Jewish-Christian relations
  • Women and Judaism
  • Anti-Judaism/anti-Semitism
  • Judaism in contemporary discourses

Resume

Since October 2024 Research Assistant at the Chair of the History of the Jewish People (Rabbi Prof. Dr. Birgit Klein)
October 2024–January 2025 Research Assistant in the BMBF project “Joseph Süß Oppenheimer Educational Game” at the Chair of the History of the Jewish People at the HfJS Heidelberg (Rabbi Prof. Dr. Birgit Klein)
04/2023–09/2024 Research Assistant (Chair Assistant) at the Department of Jewish Studies in the Faculty of Protestant Theology at JGU Mainz
10/2022–02/2023 Research Assistant in the research project “Jewish Responses to Antisemitism: The Expansion of What Can Be Said and Done in Jewish Ritual Practice” under Rabbi Prof. Dr. Birgit Klein and Rabbi Dr. Ulrike Offenberg
2020–2023 Studied Jewish Studies/Christianity and Culture at the Heidelberg College for Jewish Studies (B.A.)
11/2017–02/2018 Student Research Assistant to Prof. Dr. Shimon Gesundheit
2017–2018 Academic year studying Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Studium in Israel e.V.)
2014–2021 Studied Protestant Theology in Münster, Jerusalem, and Heidelberg (First Theological Examination, Evangelical Church in the Palatinate)
2013–2014 Volunteer service in Jordan (sponsored by EMS, Stuttgart)
2013 High school diploma (Abitur) from the Gymnasium am Kaiserdom in Speyer

Awards and Scholarships

  • 03/2026 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), grant approval for conference travel (travel expenses, accommodation, materials), European Academy of Religion, Rome (June 30–July 3, 2026)
  • 11/2021 “Karl-Julius-Mayer Foundation” Award for the advanced seminar paper in systematic theology “Influential Anti-Judaism? Schleiermacher’s Theological View of Judaism, Taking into Account His Understanding of Religion in His Speeches and Theology,” supervised by Prof. Dr. Friederike Nüssel, University of Heidelberg
  • August 2017–July 2018 PROMOS (German Academic Exchange Service): Grant for language courses and a study visit to Jerusalem

Positions and Memberships

  • European Academy of Religion (EuARe)
  • European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS)
  • Heidelberg Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences (HGGS)
  • Studying in Israel e.V.

  • Summer Semester 2024: Member of the Library Committee of Department 01 (Catholic and Protestant Theology) at the University of Mainz

Teaching Experience

At the University of Mainz:

  • Summer Semester 2024: Introductory Seminar: “Judaism in the Age of Enlightenment”; Seminar: “Judaism from A to Z”
  • Winter Semester 2023/24: Seminar: “Important Women in Judaism”
  • Summer Semester 2023: Seminar: “Jewish Festivals and Holidays”

Presentations

  • 02/2026 “On Christian Anti-Semitism in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion,” together with Prof. Dr. Katrin König; scholarly introduction as part of the concert preparations by the Cappella Palatina Heidelberg, conducted by Prof. Dr. Markus Uhl
  • 11/2025 “Faces of Left-Wing Anti-Semitism,” exhibition: “Invisible in the Heart of Society? Take a Stand Against Anti-Semitism!” at the Schwetzingen Adult Education Center
  • 08/2025 Lecture “Getting Your Head in the Game: Academic Challenges in Developing a Game about Jewish and Other Historical Figures” at the 19th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem
  • 08/2025 Poster presentation of the dissertation project “Jewish ‘Salonières’ and Their Engagement with Religious Identity around 1800” at the 19th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem
  • 02/2024 Lecture “Olympe de Gouges (1748–1793). A Courageous Pioneer Against Legal Discrimination Against Women as a Role Model in an Educational Game” as part of the interdisciplinary forum “Jewish History and Culture in the Early Modern Period” on the topic: “Digital Approaches to the Jewish Early Modern Period”)
  • 11/2023 Moderator of the event “Israel at War” at JGU Mainz (https://cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de/fb01-ev-theologie/wp-content/uploads/sites/278/2024/07/Matheoz-WiSe-23-24.pdf)

Publications

  • König, Katrin/Damian, Judith, “On Christian Anti-Semitism in Bach’s St. John Passion,” article in the concert program booklet of the “Cappella Palatina Heidelberg” choir under the direction of KMD Prof. Dr. Markus Uhl, March 2026.
  • Damian, Judith, “Whit Monday: John 20:19–23. ‘The Life-Giving Breath that Uplifts,’” in: Studium in Israel e.V. (ed.), Sermon Meditations in a Christian-Jewish Context, Berlin 2025, pp. 223–227.
  • “Conversation on Israel at War.” Mainzer Evangelisch-Theologische Zeitschrift, Winter/Spring 2023/24 (2024): 14–15: https://cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de/fb01-ev-theologie/wp-content/uploads/sites/278/2024/07/Matheoz-WiSe-23-24.pdf