Helen Spurling

Professor Helen Spurling is an academic at the University of Southampton, serving as Associate Dean Research & Enterprise and Deputy Head of School (Research and Enterprise) in the Faculty of Humanities. She is a member of the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations and the Southampton Ethics Centre.

• BA in Theology
• MPhil in Hebrew Bible
• PhD at Christ's College, University of Cambridge

Her research focuses on Jewish apocalyptic literature, midrashic interpretation, and interfaith relations (Jewish-Christian, Jewish-Muslim) from biblical times to Late Antiquity. She examines texts like Sefer Zerubbabel and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer to understand historical religious dynamics and their modern legacies.

Recent publications analyze Gog and Magog in Jewish-Islamic contexts, Danielic prophecy, and apocalyptic figures. She supervises PhD students in Jewish history, midrash, and biblical reception studies.

Spurling has held leadership roles, including Director of the Parkes Institute (2018-2019), Secretary (2012-2019), and President (2019-2021) of the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies.