God, Language and Diversity | God and Human Speech

This Templeton Foundation-funded grant led by Dr Joanna Leidenhag (University of Leeds) pairs theologians with empirical scientists working in the area of psychology and language.

During a pilot phase (September 2022–September 2023), the work included four researchers based in Cambridge: Daniel Weiss (Jewish Studies) and Professor Napoleon Katsos (Linguistics) at the University of Cambridge; and two further researchers at Cambridge Muslim College.

Weiss and Katsos focused on illuminating classical rabbinic forms of text-interpretation by comparison to language acquisition in child development and in neurodivergent individuals. In particular, they explored the rabbinic practice of uncovering multiple ‘creative’ readings of scriptural texts.

A full grant was awarded in December 2023, extending the research into 2026. Two postdoctoral researchers, Holly Sutherland and Reuven Leigh, are building on the foundations laid by Weiss and Katsos.

God, language, and diversity: Spiritual flourishing in neurodiverse and multilingual communities 

This new phase will explore connections between the linguistic, theological and ethical dimensions of classical rabbinic midrash (scriptural interpretation), on the one hand, and empirical-linguistic approaches to processes of human language comprehension and interpretation, on the other.

While midrashic interpretations of scriptural language have often been characterized as surprising, creative, and unusual, the researchers aim to explore whether these approaches to text and language may be drawing on forms of cognitive processing that in fact occur in everyday language interpretation, but which are less available to conscious awareness.

The researchers will draw upon previous empirical psychological research in the ways that adults, children, and neurodivergent individuals process language, and use this to design and carry out empirical studies of their own to assess the prevalence and properties of ‘midrashlike’ processes in human language interpretation. 

The project will use the empirical research to arrive at new framings and understandings of midrash, and draw upon midrash’s distinctive approaches to language to uncover new understandings of human language processing through experiments.

In addition, the researchers will draw upon the ethical and theological dimensions of midrash to assess whether engagement in ‘creative’ modes of language interpretation can enhance creativity in convergent and divergent thinking, as well as ethical sensitivity and the ability to look at situations or other people from multiple points of view.

Project outputs will include academic articles in the fields of scriptural interpretation/Jewish Studies, as well as experimental linguistics and psycholinguistics. They will also include materials and interactive workshops that enable the broader public to engage with researchers' approaches and findings.

About Professor Daniel Weiss (Faculty of Divinity website)

About Professor Napoleon Katsos (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics website)

God and Human Speech project (from Templeton.org) (pilot phase)

God, Language, and Diversity project (from Templeton.org) (extended phase)