About
Currently the Bothmer Fellow in
Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum, my research explores the role that material and visual culture played in the Jewish experience of the late ancient Roman world. I received my B.A. in Ancient Mediterranean Religions from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (2008), and went on to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before receiving an M.A. (2012) and Ph.D. (2017) in the History of Judaism from Duke University.
I am an experienced instructor in Hebrew Bible and Jewish history from the Israelite period to Late Antiquity with an emphasis on the Greco-Roman World. I also have expertise in material and visual culture, archaeology and anthropology.
I have archaeological field experience from important Roman period sites in Israel, and am a member of the publication team for the Duke excavations at Sepphoris. My dissertation research involved several enjoyable summers on site documenting and photographing in Rome and Beth She’arim.
Having concluding my current research on Jewish sarcophagus patrons, I have begun work on a monograph more broadly exploring additional media of Jewish visual culture in Late Antiquity as evidence of cultural interaction and change. I am also developing a digital project that seeks to virtually reconstruct and reopen the destroyed Jewish catacombs of Monteverde.
Education
Duke University, Department of Religious Studies February, 2017
Ph.D., Perilman Fellow in Religious Studies
Concentration in Jewish History
Dissertation: “Remembering the Righteous: Sarcophagus Sculpture and Jewish Identity in the Roman World”
Minor Fields: Classical Studies, Anthropology, Hebrew Bible
Duke University, Department of Religious Studies May, 2012
M.A., Religious Studies
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rothberg Institute 2009
Post-Graduate Studies
Concentration: Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill May, 2008
B.A., Religious Studies
Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Major Concentration: Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Minor: Classical Greek Work Shared in CORE
Dissertations
Syllabi
Presentations
Other Publications
- 2017 “A Jewish Child’s Portrait? The Kline Monument from Monteverde and Jewish Portrait Sculpture,” accepted for publication in IMAGES: A Journal of Jewish Art and Visual Culture, Vol. 10
- 2017 “Remembering the Righteous: Sarcophagus Sculpture and Jewish Identity in the Roman World,” PhD Dissertation
2016 “Report on Unit VI on the Western Acropolis” in The Western Summit of Sepphoris: Final Report, eds. Eric Meyers, Carol Meyers and Ben Gordon. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2016. (Accepted for Publication)
- 2016 “Small Objects Report” in The Western Summit of Sepphoris: Final Report, eds. Eric Meyers, Carol Meyers and Ben Gordon. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2016. (Accepted for Publication)
2016 “Between Text and Artifact: The Torah in Jewish Culture, 135-500 C.E.” co-authored with Eric Meyers, in The Reception of the Bible in (Late) Ancient Judaism and Christianity, eds. Andrea Colella and Armin Lange. (Accepted for Publication)
- 2014 “The Menorah in Ancient Judaism”, Entry in SBL Bible Odyssey. Feature article December, 2014
- 2013 “Early Jewish Art and Architecture”, Entry in Lexham Bible Dictionary
- 2011 Monteverde 2.0: A Virtual Model of an Ancient Catacomb (Website)
Memberships
Association for Jewish Studies
Archaeological Institute of America
Society of Biblical Literature
American Schools of Oriental Research
