Judith Gärtner

Prof. Dr. Judith Gärtner is a Professor of Old Testament at the University of Rostock since 2014. Her research focuses on resilience in religious meaning-making, particularly through biblical texts like Old Testament thanksgiving psalms and New Testament passion narratives. She explores theological and anthropological premises for interpreting suffering and crisis, linking these to modern resilience research and comparative exegesis across canonical divisions.

• Studied Protestant Theology in Münster and Marburg (1992–2000), with additional studies at Hebrew University Jerusalem (1996–1997)
• Habilitation at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (2011)
• Current roles include Dean of the Faculty of Theology at University of Rostock (since 2023) and Board Member of the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Theologie (since 2024)

Her work examines how biblical texts provide resilience potentials through retrospective narrativization of crises, preserving divine relationships while offering hope. Recent projects include Resilience in Religion and Spirituality (DFG-FOR 2686) and contributions to Volkswagen Foundation research on transcultural resilience symbols during the pandemic.

She has co-edited volumes on Resilience Narratives in the Old Testament (2022), Exodus in Deuterocanonical Literature (2016), and authored monographs like The Egyptian Hallel (2023) and The Historical Psalms (2012). Her article analysis reveals trends in psalmic theology, divine-human relationships, and crisis hermeneutics.

• Scientific awards include Senior Fellowship at Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg (2021–2022) and teaching authorization at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (2012)
• Leadership roles: Chair of SBL's Formation of the Book of Isaiah committee (2019–2023), Vice Dean of Faculty of Theology (2016–2018), and current membership in Vienna University's Scientific Advisory Board