Yannis Wing Yan Ng

Visiting Fellowship Research

My 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 on Ecclesiastes with comparative attention to Job. Drawing on trauma studies and the bystander approach, my research examines how these texts engage enduring question of suffering, resilience, and ethical witness.

My current project extends this inquiry by interpreting other biblical books, including the books of Esther and Ruth, through the lenses of critical empathy and the bystander framework. It foregrounds themes of social justice and explores how ancient religious texts can enter into meaningful conversation with contemporary society, religion and public life. By emphasising critical, empathetic engagement, my work demonstrates how

humanities scholarship can sensitise readers to social critique, foster reflective awareness, and encourage socially engaged action. More broadly, it highlights the continued relevance of biblical texts in addressing present-day challenges and contributing to more just and compassionate communities.

Profile

I completed my PhD in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds, within the School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science, in 2025. Prior to this, I studied at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where I received my M.A. in Christian Studies. My research explores biblical texts through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on trauma perspectives, the bystander approach, and critical empathy.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, my scholarly interests are informed by sustained engagement with questions of faith, lived experience, and interpretation of biblical texts. My work is also shaped by my positionality as a political migrant and a member of an ethnic minority in the UK, bringing a critical and contextually aware perspective to biblical interpretation. I am particularly interested in how ancient scriptures can be interpreted in ways that speak to contemporary issues—including social justice, displacement, and community formation—and how such readings can contribute to both academic discourse and wider public conversations.

Qualifications:

PhD (Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds) 

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

Conferences and Publications

Presentations

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.

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.

Teaching

I have experience as a Teaching Assistant/Postgraduate Tutor across a range of areas, including:

• Biblical Hebrew (language and grammar)
• Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
• Jewish and Christian texts in contexts
• Ideologies in Hebrew Bible texts and readers
• Philosophy of religion
• Religion and human rights.