I am Crhistian Cardona from a small town in Colombia called Puerto Tejada. My academic preparation is all linked to the field of religion and theology. I completed a bachelor’s in religion in 2015 (Colombia) and an MA in religion in 2018 (Philippines). After working in Thailand as a Bible teacher, I moved to the Netherlands to do a research master’s in theology and religion at the FRT (VU Amsterdam).
Since I have a passion for New Testament studies, I decided to follow the track of Texts and Traditions with an emphasis on New Testament studies and early Christian origins. During my internship at Brill Publishers (Leiden), I worked as a copyeditor of the Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (BEEC). My main task was to correct form-related matters of the articles that were submitted by the authors. Since the BEEC focuses on early Christian literature, it was easy for me to follow matters related to content as well.
Currently I work as a freelance technical assistant of major reference works such as the Textual History of the Bible (at Brill). The best part of my work is that I get to be in touch with well-known scholars in the field, people whose books I used to read and that now I get to contact directly. That is so cool, isn’t it?
I think this master’s program fit in well with my profession because it helped me to think critically and equipped me with research skills that I use when I have to write an academic article or edit the work of other people. The research master in theology and religion also made my transition to the PhD program smoother. Finally, my advice for all those who are considering doing a master’s at the FRT is: don’t think it twice! Here you will find great scholars in whatever track you want to follow. The professors and staff are very approachable and supportive.
