Maria Diemling

I am Reader in Jewish-Christian Relations and Course Director for MA Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care.

I joined CCCU in September 2006 as member of the Theology and Religious Studies team. Prior to this role, I taught as Lecturer in Jewish Studies at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) and pursued postdoctoral research as Research Fellow at the Franz Rosenzweig Minerva Research Centre at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (Israel). I also worked as librarian, cataloguer, archivist, museum researcher and kibbutz volunteer in Austria and Israel.

My interest in Jewish history started at secondary school. I enjoy introducing students to different aspects of the rich and diverse Jewish history and culture. I teach widely across our undergraduate and graduate provisions, with a particular focus on Judaism, religious studies and sacred texts.

My main research interest lies in early modern Judaism, particularly Jewish-Christian relations and early modern perceptions of Jews. I am also keenly interested in the diversity of contemporary Jewish identity. I publish regular in these areas, present my research at conferences, review the work of others and supervise postgraduate work.

I am currently the Course Director for the MA Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care. Please get in touch if you consider a taught postgraduate degree in this area and want to learn more about what to expect.

I am teaching a wide range of module in religious and theological studies. In 2024/25, I am contributing to the following modules:

Foundation Year: Introduction to the Humanities (team-taught)
L4: Understanding World Religions; Introduction to Biblical Studies (team-taught)
L5: Judaism; The Reformation
L6: Religion, Gender and Sexuality (team-taught); Dissertation Study Skills
L7: Interfaith Dialogue

Expertise

Early modern Jewish history
Jewish-Christian relations
The Body and Food in religious practice and culture
Contemporary Jewish identity

Current research projects

Jewish thinking about the sustainability and the environment
Jewish material culture and historical memory

Research Projects

"Becoming Class Enemy: A Village Primary School Teacher's Reeducation in Communist Romania"- A Microhistorical View on the Effects of Collectivisation. [Postgraduate Research Project]
‘A Critique of Purpose from a Black British Woman’s Perspective’. Researcher(s): Ms Carol McKenzie. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ralph Norman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
A critical investigation of the epistemological, familial and spiritual invisibility of spiritual Black lesbian and bisexual women in the Belgian LGBT rights framework.. Researcher(s): Dr LULU VAN DE VELDE. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ralph Norman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
An analysis of the intersectionality between race and ethnicity in Black Jews.. Researcher(s): Miss Nicole Freeman. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ralph Norman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Before these walls: medieval spolia as a mode of memory transmission at Rochester Cathedral.. Researcher(s): Mr Jacob Scott. Supervisor(s): Dr Catriona Cooper, Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Heidi Stoner. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Black. British and De-Churched: a critical investigation of conservative bible reading groups and afroasiatic religious movements in London.. Researcher(s): Dr Eleasah Louis. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ralph Norman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Creativity within Choreography: an action research study in a higher education context in China. Researcher(s): Dr Yifeng Zhu. Supervisor(s): Professor Angela Pickard, Professor Robert Rawson. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Do remote communities on the Scottish islands use ultra conservative religious practices as a means of maintaining cultural identity in the face of a dwindling indigenous population?. Researcher(s): Dr YVONNE BENNETT. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ivan Khovacs. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Rev Dr Otis Clayton. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Professor Leonie Hicks. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Dr Gifford Rhamie. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Mr Harvey Seal. Supervisor(s): Dr Ralph Norman, Dr Maria Diemling. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Miss Katie Bly. Supervisor(s): Dr Ralph Norman, Dr Maria Diemling. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Ms Eleonora Cipollina. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Professor Leonie Hicks. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Evaluation of bicarbonate-based algal carbon capture system for mushroom farms with concomitant generation of value-added products.. Researcher(s): Mr Philip Asare Kusi. Supervisor(s): Dr Asma Ahmed, Dr Emilia Bertolo. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Experiences of FE staff from Eu countries during Brexit. Researcher(s): Ms Annike King. Supervisor(s): Professor Adrian Holliday, Dr Maria Diemling. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Hagar and the Levite's Concubine: Reclaiming Biblical Women Through a Womanist Lens. Researcher(s): Miss Shehla Ahmad. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ralph Norman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
How Might Communication Help Practitioners in Loss and Grief Counselling?. Researcher(s): Mrs Jane Joyce. Supervisor(s): Dr John-Paul Riordan, Dr Maria Diemling. [Postgraduate Research Project]
St Anselm and Virtual Reality: Sustaining Sacred Space in Simulated Worlds. Researcher(s): Mr Aryn Litchfield. Supervisor(s): Dr Ralph Norman, Dr Maria Diemling. [Postgraduate Research Project]
The Community of Pluckley.1500-1650: People, Place and Belonging.. [Postgraduate Research Project]
The dynamics of transnational migration: networks and religion among St. Kitts-Nevis migrants in 1950s-1960s Britain. Researcher(s): Mrs Shirley Pemberton. Supervisor(s): Dr Maria Diemling, Dr Ivan Khovacs. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
The Swedenborgian infant school pedagogy of Samuel Wilderspin, 1820 - 1825: an actor-network analysis.. Researcher(s): Mrs Sarah Odhner. Supervisor(s): Reverend Dr Jeremy Law, Professor Bob Bowie. [Postgraduate Research Project]

Membership of professional bodies and networks:

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Member of Editorial Board, journal Medaon.
Honorary Fellow, The Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton
Member of the Association for Jewish Studies.
Member of the British Association for Jewish Studies.
Member of the European Association for Jewish Studies

Invited lectures:

I enjoy sharing my research and discuss my findings with colleagues and the interested public. I am regularly invited to present my research at research seminars, workshops and conferences in the UK and abroad.

“Judaizing” as bodily practice in Reformation Germany: the observance of the Sabbath in Karlstadt (1524) and Margaritha (1530) Diemling, M.: Taylor & Francis. [Journal article]
Between beggars and professors: Jewish converts as agents of Lutheranism at early modern century German universities Diemling, M.: De Gruyter. [Journal article]
“The trouble that stalks in darkness” (Ps 91:6): Jewish resilience during the plague in early modern Prague Diemling, M., (19 Jan 2023), Jews and Health: Tradition, History, and Practice. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. [Book chapter]
Privacy in Jewish sources Diemling, Maria, Green, Michaël, (14 Dec 2023): Uniwersytet Jagiellonski - Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, Jagiellonian University Press. [Journal article]
Privacy, Literacy, and Gender in Early Modern Jewish Letters from Prague (1619) Diemling, M., (14 Dec 2023): Uniwersytet Jagiellonski - Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego. [Journal article]
Food Diemling, M., (08 Jul 2022), Routledge Handbook of Jewish Ritual and Practice. London: Routledge. [Book chapter]
The etrog in early modern Christian eyes Diemling, M., Deutsch, Y., Be Fruitful!: The Etrog in Jewish Art, Culture, and History. Jerusalem: Mineged Press. [Book chapter]
Meat: Modern Judaism Diemling, M., (26 Oct 2020), Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, vol. 18. Berlin: De Gruyter. [Book chapter]
About bakers, butchers, geese and pigs: negotiating the boundaries of Jewish-Christian relations in Schudt’s Merckwürdigkeiten Diemling, M.: Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. [Journal article]
"Where do you draw the line?" Negotiating Kashrut and Jewish identity in a small British Reform Community Diemling, M., Ray, L.: Bloomsbury. [Journal article]
Grenzgangertum: Ubertritte vom Judentum zum Christentum in Wien 1500-2000 Diemling, M.. [Journal article]
'Daß man unter so viel tausend Menschen so fort einen Juden erkennen kan': Johann Jacob Schudt und der jüdische Körper Diemling, M., Die Frankfurter Judengasse: Jüdisches Leben in der Frühen Neuzeit: Schriftenreihe des Jüdischen Museums Frankfurt am Main. [Book chapter]
Anthonius Margaritha and his 'Der Gantz Jüdisch Glaub' Diemling, M., Jews, Judaism and the Reformation in Sixteenth-Century Germany: Brill. [Book chapter]
'Mit Leib und Seele?' Christlicher Glaube und jüdischer Körper Diemling, M.. [Journal article]
Jewish tales on converts and conversion in early modern Germany Diemling, M., Themes in Jewish-Christian Relations: Orchard Academic. [Book chapter]

People search

Contact me

maria.diemling@canterbury.ac.uk

01227923236

Based in

Faculty of Arts Humanities and Education

School of Humanities and Educational Studies

Dr Maria Diemling