Bible and Contemporary World Postgraduate Conference

The St Andrews Postgraduate Conference in Bible, Theology and Contemporary World brings together current students, alumni, faculty and postgraduate researchers to explore the relationship between the Bible, Christian faith and contemporary questions.

The conference will explore how biblical interpretation and Christian theology engage contemporary cultural, social, political, ethical and ecclesial questions. It is designed as a collaborative and formative space, emphasising discussion, constructive feedback and intellectual development. Topics range from biblical interpretation and lived theology to artificial intelligence, video games, surveillance culture, literature, music, and public life.

The Bible and Contemporary World (B&CW) Postgraduate Conference is open to current postgraduate students in the B&CW programme, PhD researchers in the School of Divinity and related disciplines, and B&CW alumni.

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Please note that this is a draft programme and remains subject to minor changes.

Monday 31 August: Community, Research and Theological Reflection

9am to 9.30am Welcome and Conference Introduction

9.30am to 11am Panel: Theology, Culture, and Artistic Imagination
Topics include Wendell Berry and creation, Tolkien and Miyazaki on spiritual formation, and contemporary artistic representations of the saints.

11.15am to 12.45pm Panel: Theology, Vocation and Practice

2pm to 3.15pm Research clinics
Small-group conversations on dissertation projects, publication opportunities, vocational questions, and future research.

Tuesday 1 September: Depth, Practice and Lived Theology

9am to 10.15am Keynote Address: Professor Trevor Hart
What on earth has the Bible to do with the contemporary world?

10.30am to 12 noon Panel: Reading Practices
Topics include horror and biblical interpretation, Kendrick Lamar and Deuteronomy, Scripture as the contemporary Word of God, and Bible and activism.

1.30pm to 3pm Panel: Embodiment, Practice and Lived Theology
Topics include Pentecostal and charismatic practice, the contemporary diaconate, music and lived theology, and Christian metal as lived religion.

3.15pm to 4.30pm Reading Scripture Between Academy and Church
A roundtable conversation exploring the relationship between biblical scholarship, church life, and contemporary faith.

6pm Optional Group Dinner in St Andrews

Wednesday 2 September: Religion, Media and Contemporary Life

9am to 10.30am Panel: Theology, Media and Contemporary Culture
Topics include surveillance culture and privacy, hypervisibility in digital life, video games and post-secular imagination, and artificial intelligence and biblical studies.

10.45am to 12 noon Keynote address: Dr Siobhán Jolley

12 noon to 12.30pm Closing plenary conversation

Optional Post-Conference Events: Wednesday 2 to Friday 4 September 2026

Participants are invited to remain in St Andrews for a series of optional events designed especially for incoming Bible and Contemporary World students and conference guests.

Activities include orientation to the new online learning environment, dissertation sessions with current students, a walking tour of St Andrews, an East Sands beach gathering, a visit to Holy Trinity Church and its historic King James Bible, a medieval chant session in the cathedral ruins, and informal group meals and opportunities for conversation.

Further details will be provided closer to the conference.