Alana Vincent

I came to Umeå in 2022, having previously held posts at the University of Chester (UK), Glasgow University (UK), and Swedish Theological Institute (Jerusalem). My background is in Jewish Studies (modern Judaism, holocaust and genocide, Jewish-Christian dialogue) and religion and literature.

Since 2020 I have been very involved in projects concerning changes to religious practice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first of these, British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19, ran from 2020 to 2021; the successor project, Religious Communities in the Virtual Age, is a collaboration between teams from the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Slovenia, and will run from 2022-2024. This work draws on my previous research into both liturgical change and commemorative practices.

I have been active in education in wider society, serving several years on the Cheshire West and Chester Standing Action Council for Religious Education, the Cheshire West and Chester Interfaith Council, and the Scottish Interfaith Youth Council. I am a signatory of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism; I have also provided specialist advice on antisemitism education to public organisations in the UK. 

I am the reviews editor for the journal Literature & Theology (Oxford University Press), the Hermeneutics & Critical Theory field editor for Advances in Ancient, Biblical, and Near Eastern Research, and sit on the editorial board of the Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. I have previously served as the president of the International Society for Religion, Literature & Culture, the chair of the Religions, Holocaust & Genocide Unit at the American Academy of Religion, and as reviews editor for the journal Jewish Culture & History.