MA (hons)
Laurence Lamonde-Mercier is a second-year MPhil student at Oriel, under the supervision of Professor Katherine Southwood. She received her undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies and Hebrew from the University of St Andrews in 2023. Her undergraduate dissertation, for which she won the Gray Prize for best essay relating to the Divinity curriculum, focused on divine presence and intertextuality in Judges 19, specifically looking at the literary purpose of divine absence in the face of human violence.
Laurence’s MPhil dissertation, entitled “The Ecological Significance of Sin: An Analysis of the Land’s Agency in Ezekiel,” examines the idea of the land as an active participant in the amalgamation of sin which ultimately results in the exile. This project will bring into conversation several key concepts, such as the tripartite covenant, human/divine relationships, pollution and defilement through sin and violence, and exile.
Research interests: divine presence and absence; violence; ancient Near East