Joan Ferrer CostaView profile
Professor
Joan Ferrer Costa is a Full Professor in the Department of Philology and Communication at the University of Girona, where he holds a chair in Hebrew and Aramaic Studies. He is also a professor of Sacred Scripture at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Girona and the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia. His academic affiliations include the Institute of Catalan Language and Culture and the Research Group in Language History and Normative Language. He has been President of the Biblical Association of Catalonia since 2017. Ph.D. in Semitic Philology, University of Barcelona, 1990 S.T.L. in Theology, Faculty of Theology of Barcelona, 1983 B.A. in Geography and History, University of Barcelona, 1982 Professor Ferrer Costa's research is at the intersection of Semitic and Romance philology. His primary interests include Hebrew and Aramaic philology , with a focus on Targumic literature and biblical translation, and Catalan historical philology , where he has made significant contributions to onomastics and the study of the language's literary formation. He is a leading expert on Yiddish and Syriac , and his work bridges biblical scholarship with the cultural history of Jewish and Catalan traditions. His recent publications show a consistent trend in producing bilingual and trilingual critical editions of foundational religious texts. His extensive publication record, including major Catalan Bible translations and scholarly editions, reflects a career dedicated to making ancient and religious texts accessible. His work on the Biblia Bilingüe series and numerous studies on Agnon and other figures in Hebrew literature demonstrates a deep engagement with both the linguistic and literary aspects of his fields. Full Academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Barcelona (2013) Corresponding Member of the Philological Section of the Institute for Catalan Studies (2021) Full Member of the Philological Section of the Institute for Catalan Studies (2023) Joan Ferrer Costa has been a principal investigator on several national research projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education, focusing on the history of the Catalan language and Aramaic dialectology. He has supervised at least seven Ph.D. theses on diverse topics ranging from the work of Joan Coromines to Hebrew fragments in Catalan aljamiado and the theology of the New Testament. His mentorship reflects a broad influence across philology, theology, and cultural studies. He is a key member of the Research Group in Language History and Normative Language at the University of Girona and has been deeply involved in collaborative editorial projects with the Association of Biblical Studies of Catalonia, the Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià, and the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia. His work often emerges from these collective scholarly teams.