Barbara Roggema

Dr. Barbara Roggema is a Researcher at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) at Ruhr University Bochum. She specializes in interreligious encounters in the Islamicate world, focusing on Jewish-Christian relations and the transmission of patristic texts. Since 2015, she has been a Research Associate on the ERC-funded project 'JewsEast,' studying strategies of interaction between Jews and Christians from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. Starting in 2020, she joined the 'Armenia Entangled' project, exploring Armenia's cultural and religious entanglements. Her work bridges historical, linguistic, and theological disciplines.

Education:

• Studied Arabic and Syriac at the University of Groningen, University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, and Cairo.
• Completed her PhD, followed by postdoctoral roles at King's College London and other institutions.

Research Interests: Her research emphasizes the translation and adaptation of religious texts across cultural boundaries. She investigates how patristic literature (e.g., early Christian writings) was transmitted and reinterpreted in Arabic and Syriac contexts, highlighting intellectual exchanges between Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scholars. This work underscores the interconnectedness of religious traditions in pre-modern societies.

Labs/Teams: Active in CERES research clusters focused on interreligious dialogue and the history of religious texts. Collaborates with international networks in Islamicate studies and medieval manuscript analysis.