Yannis Wing Yan Ng

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.  

Qualifications:

PhD (Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds) 

MA (Christian Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) 

Publications

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.  

Conferences and Publications

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.  

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.