Manoela Carpenedo appointed as new member of the Young Academy Groningen

Manoela Carpenedo, assistant professor and Marie Curie Fellow at our faculty, is one of the newest members of the Young Academy Groningen. The YAG is a group of enthusiastic and ambitious young researchers from diverse disciplines at the University of Groningen and UMCG. Their members share a passion for research and interacting with society. Time for a chat with Manoela to find out more about her and her passion!

Who are you and where are you from?

I am a social scientist and ethnographer and I come from a city located in the South of Brazil, Porto Alegre. The city is quite big for European standards and it is covered by trees and green vegetation. Before coming to Groningen, I studied and worked in many places across Europe – Germany, Spain, Hungary, and the United Kingdom. I enjoy reading - Latin American literature is my favorite - and practicing yoga.

What is your research about?

My research explores how Christian cultures emerging from the Global South have a growing influence on identity-building, politics, and policy across the world. My work focuses on themes related to the growth of Christian Zionism and Judaizing forms of Christianity in the Global South, Christian activism and political mobilization, and emerging modalities of Christian religious extremism. I try to understand how Christian ideas are embedded in the daily life of people, particularly in how they see the world and engage with political views, and even how they entertain themselves - the growing popularity of Biblical teleseries is a good example.

Why did you want to join the YAG and what are your plans as a YAG member?

I am thrilled to be joining the Young Academy Groningen, because I hope to extend my research collaboration across faculties. I also want to develop new approaches for connecting academia and society, particularly by bridging the realities of the Global South

and the Global North. I also want to develop projects with a societal impact on topics related to religion, ethnic diversity, and gender, and collaborate in the development of University policy addressing the issues faced by international early career researchers.