University of California, Los Angeles
Graduate Student, History
Ph.D. Student in New Testament and Christian Origins
|
S. Scott Bartchy (Advisor)
Ra'anan S. Boustan (Co-Chair) Ronald J. Mellor William M. Schniedewind |
About
My research explores the social and cultural functions of apocalyptic discourse in early Christian letters, particularly the maintenence of group identities. More generally, I seek to do social and cultural history with an interdisciplinary approach, integrating insights from social theory, postcolonial studies, and material culture into my readings of the texts of Christian origins and early Judaism. My exams in the History Department at UCLA are in Early Christianity to Constantine (Bartchy), Early Judaism (300 BCE - 200 CE; Boustan), and Ancient Rome (Mellor). My external exam is Scribal Culture in Ancient Israel, Early Judaism, and Christian Origins (Schniedewind).
As an educator, I have a student-centered approach to the classroom. I seek to maximize student voices over my own, serving as a guide or facilitator through complex questions of religion, history, literature, culture, and society. The emphasis is less on retaining facts (though some facts are required) and more on developing sophisticated skills in analytical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking. I am currently teaching a course that I have designed ("Barbarians, the Blameless, and their Boundaries: Representations of Identity in Antiquity") in the UCLA Comp. Lit. Department. This summer I will be teaching a course for the UCLA Study of Religion program ("Jesus of Hollywood").
I also serve as Vice Chair for the Student Advisory Board (SAB) of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and occasionally on the staff of UCLA's Center for the Study of Religion (http://www.religion.ucla.edu/). For the 2012 SBL Meeting in Chicago, I have organized and will preside over the panel, "The Future of Biblical Studies: Trends, Possibilities, and Problems." The panel will feature Carol A. Newsom, Susan Niditch, Dale B. Martin, Elizabeth A. Clark, Laura S. Nasrallah, and Ra’anan S. Boustan. At the Chicago meeting, I will also present the paper, "Parousia, Paul, and Rome: Social Identity Complexity and Cultural Hybridity in First Thessalonians," for the Postcolonial Studies and Biblical Studies program unit.
Contact Information
| Homepage: |
