Rae Fujimori

Thesis title: Unveiling Identities: Language, Gender, and Power in Achaemenid Yehud

Biography

Qualifications

Master of Theology in Biblical Studies with Distinction

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom (September 2021 - August 2022)

Bachelor of Arts in Letters with Study Abroad

Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (April 2017 - March 2021)

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom (September 2019 - May 2020)

Responsibilities & affiliations

Research stay at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, hosted by PD Dr Harald Samuel, funded by Brot für die Welt, Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V. (2025-2026)

Treasurer, New College Postgraduate Committee,  School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh  (2024 - 2025)

Co-Chair, CSCO Decolonising Biblical Studies Postgraduate Research and Reading Group (2023 - present) 

Undergraduate teaching

Tutoring

DIVI08034 Patriarchs, Prophets and Poets

DIVI08003 The Bible in Literature 

Project activity

My PhD thesis explores how the masculinity of Judean men, as colonial subjects, is represented in biblical literary traditions set under Persian imperial rule, with particular focus on language as a key tool of imperial domination.  

Current project grants

Landeskirche Scholarship sponsored by Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V. (Brot für die Welt), awarded for for research stay at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany (April 2025 - March 2026)
School of Divinity PhD Scholarship Award (September 2023 - present)
Graduate Scholarship for Degree-Seeking Students sponsored by Japan Student Service Organization (September 2023 - present)

Past project grants

Graduate Scholarship for Degree-Seeking Students sponsored by Japan Student Service Organization awarded for the Master of Theology in Biblical Studies at the University of Edinburgh (September 2021 - August 2022)

Invited speaker

'Muted Voice: The Reinterpretation of Job’s Wife'. Colloquium Patristicum. 5th November 2022. [Online]. Kyoto University. [in Japanese: 「抹消された声 −ヨブの妻の再解釈をめぐって−」コロキウム・パトリスティクム].

Organiser

Co-chair for Unit at European Association of Biblical Studies Conference, titled: Intersectional Criticism: Gender, Class, Race, Sexuality, and Disability. 2025 - 2028. https://eabs.net/EABS/Research-Units/Research_Units/EABS_Research_Units/Intersectional_Criticism.aspx

Co-chair for Workshop at European Association of Biblical Studies Conference, titled: Intersectional Criticism: Gender, Class, Race, Sexuality, and Disability. 2024. https://www.eabs.net/EABS/Research-Units/Research_Units/Past_Research_Units/Workshops-2024/Intersectional_Criticism.aspx

Papers delivered

‘Mediating Masculine Power: Eunuchs as Boundary-Crossers in the Persian Imperial Order in the Book of Esther Traditions.’ European Association of Biblical Studies Annual Conference. 26th June 2025. [In-person]. Uppsala University.

'Masters of the House: Gendered Linguistic Power in the Book of Esther.' European Association of Biblical Studies Graduate Symposium. 5th March, 2025. [Online]. University of Groningen.

'"And They Did Not Know How to Speak the Language of Yehud": Socio-Linguistic Analysis on the Book of Nehemiah’. Old Testament Studies: Epistemologies and Methods. 24th August 2024. [In-person]. Sandbjerg Gods, Aarhus University.

'Yehudite Identity and Hebrew Language in the Book of Nehemiah'. European Association of Biblical Studies Annual Conference. 16th July, 2024. [In-person]. Sofia University.

'In what way Job's wife is relevant to the female survivors of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki?'. Northern Universities Postgraduate Day Conference. 31st May 2022. [In-person]. Durham University.  

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