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. Four of the researchers are based in Cambridge including Polonsky-Coexist Senior Lecturer Dr Daniel Weiss.
As a Co-Investigator Daniel is paired with Professor Napoleon Katsos (Linguistics, Cambridge). They are exploring how classical rabbinic forms of text-interpretation may be illuminated by comparison to language acquisition in child development and in neurodivergent individuals. In particular, they are looking at the rabbinic practice of uncovering multiple ‘creative’ readings of scriptural texts.
This work began in September 2022 with a 12-month pilot phase.
About Dr Daniel Weiss (Faculty of Divinity website)
About Professor Napoleon Katsos (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics website)