About
I am assistant professor of religion at Augsburg University. I am broadly trained in Biblical Studies and the afterlives of the Bible, with a focus on Second Temple (including New Testament/Early Christianity) and early Rabbinic periods. My work emphasizes the vast diversity of Judaism in the ancient world, including ancient constructions of gender.
Current & Recent Projects:
My current project is a monograph on the Diversity in Jewish Leadership in the 1st–3rd centuries CE. Using both normative, elite evidence and underused literary and material sources in the reconstruction of late Second Temple and early Rabbinic Judaism, this research highlights the instability and diversity of leadership in this period, especially in terms of gender and status. My work contributes to disrupting the notion of an easy segue between Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism and helps complicate the so-called Parting of the Ways between Judaism and Christianity.
Most recently, the textbook
Jewish and Christian Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Routledge, 2022) was released. This collaboration, with
Dr Meredith Warren [Sheffield] and
Dr Sara Parks [St. Xavier Francis], examines ancient Jewish, Christian, Greek, and Roman religious communities and practices. This textbook teaches students how to 1) uncover the voices of women in antiquity, 2) reconstruct “real” women based on materials predominantly written by and for men, and 3) examine portrayals of women as well as gendered expectations. To do this, we utilize a variety of interpretive methods (e.g. feminist, queer, post-colonial) while also challenging the scholarly compartmentalization of ancient Mediterranean religions and cultures.
I research and teach on gender theory and women and gender studies. My recently published co-edited book,
Gender & Second-Temple Judaism, (Lexington/Fortress 2020) brings together upcoming and established scholars in gender and Second Temple Judaism. Following up this collection will be a volume with Drs Kathy Ehrensperger and Juni Hoppe on
Constructions of Gender in Late Antiquity (expected fall 2023).
In addition, I work with the afterlives of biblical and apocryphal narratives. For example, see my recent article on
Mono- and Polytheistic tensions in Battlestar Galactica and ancient Jewish biblical interpretation (
JIBS 2021). I am especially interested in the (re)use of end time narratives in contemporary popular culture.
Last updated 8 July 2022.
Other Publications
Books
Jewish and Christian Women in the Ancient Mediterranean. Textbook. With Meredith J.C. Warren and Sara Parks. London: Routledge Press, 2022.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“Teaching The Road in the Context of Apocalyptic Studies.” In Approaches to Teaching the Works of Cormac McCarthy. Edited by Stacey Peebles and Ben West. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2021.
“The Old Gods are Fighting Back: Mono- and Polytheistic Tensions in Battlestar Galactica and Jewish Biblical Interpretation.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies 3.1 (2021). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/sm81-6k10.
“Bar Kokhba and Leadership as Seen through the Revolt.” Religion Compass (2019): 13.7: 1–10.
“Disrupting Biblical Patriarchy in 280 characters: Examining the Inherent Patriarchal Nature of 2 Samuel 11–12.” AJS Perspectives, Patriarchy Issue. Spring (2019).
“The Euphrates as Temporal Marker in 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 47.1 (2016): 104–118.
“Pseudepigrapha in Current Research.” Religion Compass 7/5 (2013): 149–156.
“A Note on the Context of the Phrase ‘Women are Temperamentally Lightheaded’ in BT Kiddushin 80b.” Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary E-Journal 9.1 (2012). https://wjudaism.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/wjudaism/article/view/19157.
Book Chapters
“2 Esdras.” Pages in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha. Edited by Gerbern Oegema. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
“Scenes from the End of the World in American Popular Culture.” In Oxford Handbook of the Bible in American Popular Culture. Edited by Dan W. Clanton, Jr. and Terry Ray Clark. Oxford: Oxford University Press. December 2020.
“Gender and Second Temple Judaism: Challenges & Possibilities.” In Gender and Second Temple Judaism. Edited by Shayna Sheinfeld and Kathy Ehrensperger. Lanham, MD: Lexington/Fortress, 2020.
“From Nomos to Logos: Torah in First-Century Jewish Texts.” Pages 61–74 in The Message of Paul the Apostle within Second Temple Judaism. Edited by František Ábel. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington/Fortress, 2020.
“The Decline of Jewish Apocalypticism and the Rise of Rabbinic Judaism.” In Apocalypses in Context: Apocalyptic Currents Throughout History. Edited by Kelly J. Murphy and Justin P. Jeffcoat Schedtler. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2016.
“Who is the Righteous Remnant in Romans 9–11? The Concept of Remnant in the Hebrew Bible, Early Jewish Literature and Paul’s Letter to the Romans.” In Paul the Jew: Rereading the Apostle as a Figure of Second Temple Judaism. Edited by Carlos A. Segovia and Gabriele Boccaccini. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2016.
“Lot’s Daughters and Tamar: Mothers Positively Reimagined in Genesis Rabbah.” In Making Sense of Motherhood: Biblical and Theological Perspectives. Edited by Beth M. Stovell. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2016.
Edited Volumes
Gender and Second-Temple Judaism. Co-edited with Kathy Ehrensperger. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Press, 2020.
Theology and Westworld. Co-edited with Juli Gittinger. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Press, 2020.
Dictionary & Encyclopedia Entries
T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism. “Demetrius the Chronographer.” Edited by Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Daniel M. Gurtner. New York: T&T Clark, 2020.
End of Days: An Encyclopedia of the Apocalypse. “Apocalyptic Literature,” “Jewish Apocalyptic,” “Messianism,” “Apocalypse of Baruch.” Edited by Wendell G. Johnson. Santa Barbara, Ca: ABC-CLIO, 2017.
4 Enoch. “Bar Kokhba.” [http://www.4enoch.org]
Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture: A Handbook for Students. “Dinah,” “Jephthah’s Daughter,” Sadducees.” Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Michael J. Gilmour. Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012.
Public Scholarship
Podcast Episode: “Jewish and Christian Women in the Ancient Mediterranean” with Meredith JC Warren and Sara Parks. Ancient Aterlives, January 2022.
“The River Euphrates.” Bible Odyssey. September 2021.
“The Annual SBL/AAR: Things to Keep in Mind.” Blog post. Second Temple Early Career Academy. Fall 2019.
“Nebuchadnezzar.” Bible Odyssey. Spring 2019.
“Engaging with Intersectionality and 1st–2nd century ‘Judaism’.” Response to Maia Kotrosits’s book, Rethinking Early Christian Identity: Affect, Violence, and Belonging. Ancient Jew Review, January 2019.
“Sukkot in the New Testament.” TheTorah.com. September 2018.
“Performing Apocalyptic Texts: Teaching the Eschatological Banquet from the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Ancient Jew Review, August 2018.
“Lot and his Daughters’ Motives for their Incestuous Union.” TheTorah.com, 2016.
“Genre-Bending Writing Assignments.” AJS News, 2016.
“Yelamdeinu Rabbeinu: The Exclusivity of the Oral Law.” TheTorah.com, 2016.
“Using Word Clouds as Informal Assessments in Religion Courses.” Ancient Jew Review, 2016.
“Dissertation Spotlight: Shayna Sheinfeld.” Ancient Jew Review, 2015.
“Students Think Better with Thinking Pieces: Why You Should Consider Low-Stakes Writing Assignments in Your Class” (with Meredith Warren), Ancient Jew Review, 2015.
“What Moses learned from Noah.” Noah’s Flood: Ancient Stories of Natural Cataclysm, 2015.
“Oral Performance and the Function of 4 Ezra.” Biblical Performance Criticism 2013.
“Recognizing the Whole Student: Balancing Family & Academia.” AAR Religious Studies News (co-authored with Ann W. Duncan), 2010.
“Seven Tips for Getting your Feet Wet at the Society of Biblical Literature Meeting.” SBL Forum, 2008.
Select Book Reviews
Paula Fredriksen, When Christians were Jews: The First Generation in Ancient Jew Review, 2020. https://www.ancientjewreview.com/articles/2020/6/26/book-note-when-christians-were-jews.
Michael E. Stone, Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism” in Review of Biblical Literature, 2019.
Gabriele Boccaccini and Jason M. Zurawski, ed., Interpreting 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch” in Journal for the Study of Judaism 48/4-5 (2017) 595-597.
Matthias Henze, Jewish Apocalypticism in Late First Century Israel: Reading Second Baruch in Context” in Dead Sea Discoveries 21.2 (2014): 248–250.
Shmuel Shepkaru, Jewish Martyrs in the Pagan and Christian Worlds” in Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 40:2 (2011): 259–260.
Mark Andrew Brighton, The Sicarii in Josephus’s Judean War: Rhetorical Analysis and Historical Observations” in Review of Biblical Literature (2010).
David Goodblatt, Elements of Ancient Jewish Nationalism” in Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 39:4 (2010): 606–608.
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature” in Review of Biblical Literature (2009).
Tova Hartman, Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism” in Women in Judaism 6:1 (2009).
Liv Ingeborg Lied, The Other Lands of Israel: Imagination of the Land in 2 Baruch” in Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 16.2 (2008): 379–381.
