Dr Yannis Wing Yan Ng

Profile

Ng completed her PhD in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds, in the School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science. Her degree was awarded in July 2025, following the successful completion of my viva voce examination in May 2025. Before coming to Leeds, she studied at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she received her M.A. in Christian Studies. Born and raised in Hong Kong, her academic journey has been shaped by a critical engagement with questions of faith, lived experience, and the interpretation of biblical texts. Having experienced displacement in the UK, her research is further informed by my positionality as a political migrant, and a member of an ethnic minority.

Her doctoral thesis, Witnessing the Text: A Critical Empathetic Approach to Ecclesiastes with Affect, Trauma and Bystander Perspectives, explores wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible, focusing particularly on Ecclesiastes with comparative attention to Job. Drawing on trauma studies and bystander approach, her research investigates how these texts engage with contemporary questions of suffering, resilience, and witness.

Ng's current project extends this focus by reading other biblical books such as the books of Esther and Ruth through the lenses of critical empathy and the bystander framework. Her work aims to demonstrate how humanities scholarship can sensitise readers to social critique and foster reflection and socially engaged action through critical empathetic engagement. It also aims to highlight the potential of ancient texts to illuminate contemporary challenges and contribute to more just and compassionate communities.

Responsibilities

• Visiting Fellow, Centre for Religion and Public Life (CRPL)
• Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute (LAHRI)

Research interests

• Trauma studies and trauma-informed reading of the Hebrew Bible
• Bystander approach and biblical interpretation
• Embodied and critical-empathetic reading

Research outputs

Chapters

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘Was Esther Groomed? A Critical-Empathetic Reassessment of Mordecai’s Power and Esther’s Agency’. In Insights into the Roles of Empathy and Body-Imagination in the Study of the Hebrew Bible, edited by Katherine E. Southwood and Alexandra Grund-Wittenberg. Leiden: Brill, forthcoming.

Ng, Wing Yan. Witnessing the Text: A Critical Empathetic Approach to Ecclesiastes with Affect, Trauma and Bystander Perspectives. PhD thesis, University of Leeds, 2025.

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘Reading Lot’s Wife with Marginalised Migrants: Promoting Critical Empathy in the Biblical Studies Classroom’. In Activism, Bible, and Research-Based Teaching: Practical Approaches for the Global Biblical Studies Classroom, edited by Johanna Stiebert, 53–66. Bible in the Modern World 85. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2024.

Presentation (conference/workshop etc)

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘Historically Alert, Ethically Engaged: Embodied Reading and Critical Empathy in Biblical Interpretation’. To be presented at the PG & ECR session at The Society for Old Testament Study Summer Meeting 2026, University of Nottingham, 13–16 July 2026.

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘Measure the Distances: Re-reading Deuteronomy 21:1–9 from a Bystander Perspective’. Presented at the Conference of the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies, University of Glasgow, 8 July 2025.

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘What if the World...? Reading Hope in the Book of Job’. Presented at the Society for the Study of Theology Postgraduate Conference, University of Edinburgh, 6 September 2023.

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘Comfort or Cajole: Reading Elkanah’s Response to Hannah with the Awareness of Coercive Control’. Presented at the Society for the Study of Theology Conference, University of Warwick, 19 April 2023. (A revised version of this paper is available [here])

Ng, Yannis Wing Yan. ‘Respondent of the plenary “Who holds the power and where is it held? An exploration of spiritual and domestic abuse” by Professor Lisa Oakley’. Presented at the Society for the Study of Theology Conference, University of Warwick, 18 April 2023.

Teaching experience

• Teaching Assistant, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • Biblical Hebrew I (2019–2020)
  • Introduction to Hebrew Scriptures (2019–2020)
• Postgraduate Tutor, University of Leeds
  • Introduction to Jewish and Christian Texts (2022–2024)
  • Ideologies in Hebrew Bible Texts and Readers (2023–2024)
  • Introduction of Philosophy of Religion (2024–2025)
  • Human Rights and Religion (2024–2025)

Assisted in seminar facilitation, provided feedback on student assignments, and supported undergraduate learning.

Qualifications

• PhD (Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds, UK)
• MA (Christian Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Professional memberships

• The Society for Old Testament Study
• British Academy Early Career Researcher Network

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute
• Centre for Religion and Public Life
• Centre for Jewish Studies