Naomi Choi

Biography

Background

I grew up in Hong Kong where I received my undergraduate degree, majoring in Computer Science and Philosophy. I then spent the next three years in Leuven and Heidelberg, finishing a second degree in Theology and Religious Studies and a master's degree in Philosophy. I returned to Hong Kong for an MPhil in Religious Studies and wrote a thesis about the influence of Pietist Christoph Blumhardt on the early Karl Barth. In September 2022, I came to Edinburgh to work on a PhD, focusing on the heyday of German Pietism and its place in the wider intellectual backdrop, the most significant of which is the Enlightenment. I am especially interested in exploring this through the work and network of female intellectuals and religious radicals.

Qualifications

MPhil in Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2022)

BA in Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven (2020)

MA in Philosophy, KU Leuven (2019)

BEng in Computer Science, University of Hong Kong (2016)

 

Undergraduate teaching

Tutor

Early Modern History: A Connected World (2022-23)

Research summary

My research concerns the interaction between religious, intellectual, sociopolitical currents in early modern Europe. My dissertation focuses on a leading figure of the German radical Pietists, Johanna Eleonora Petersen, née von und zu Merlau (1644–1724). Astonishing for a woman of her time, she had fifteen titles published; some of which were prayer books and others were theological treatises. She was known for elaborating radical ideas, such as chiliasm and universal salvation, with detailed interpretation of biblical passages and arguments. She is also known for her autobiography, which was the earliest autobiography known to be published by a woman in the German language. My dissertation seeks to understand the conditions experienced by her in her historical context. It will situate Johanna Eleonora within the complex network of clergy, nobility, scholars and religious radicals which surrounded her. Through this, it hopes to shed light on the role of the radical religious, and in particular, the female intellectuals among them, in the intellectual movements of the time.

Affiliated research centres

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