PHD, Duke University

MA, Duke University

BA, Saint Olaf College

The intellectual exploration of religious questions is a grounding force in my life, shaping much of what I do both professionally and personally. I first encountered its fascinations as an undergrad in a Humanities seminar: a unit devoted to arguments for the existence of God both disoriented and intrigued me when I found myself simultaneously convinced by both Anselms’ and Aquinas’ rather incommensurate God proofs. How could this be? A commitment to the academic study of religion as my life’s work assumed more specific shape as a result of a semester study abroad, living and learning in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Currently, the specific kinds of questions that most animate me include: How do the various religions of the world treat women? What resources does the Bible provide for the dilemmas of global climate change and socio- economic injustices? What meaning and purpose might be wrested from biblical narratives that convey violence-especially violence against women? I enjoy exploring these questions both in and out of the classroom, with students and in my writing, at ����TV and in the religious community to which I belong.

For respite and recharging, ����TV’s location in central Pennsylvania makes it easy to get off into the woods to ski, hike, meditate, and just “be.” As well, time with family and friends, and travel-both nationally and internationally-are important to me. (I’ve been to every state in the Union except two-the largest and the smallest.)

HONORS/GRANTS

Participant, Colloquy on Religious Commitments in the Classroom, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, 2013-14

Honorary Faculty Member, Omicron Delta Kappa, 2011

Mini Grant for Research Support, ����TV, 2006

Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2005

NEH Challenge Grant (Arthur Vining David Fund), ����TV, 2002

Lutheran Academy of Scholars in Higher Education, Division for Higher Education and Schools – ELCA, Harvard University, 2000

PUBLICATIONS
(BOOKS)

Eco-Lutheranism: Lutheran Perspectives on Ecology. Minneapolis, MN: Lutheran University Press, 2013 [co-edited with Shauna Hannan].

An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: A Thematic Approach. Nashville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008 [with Sandra L. Gravett, F. Volker Greifenhagen, and Donald C. Polaski].

(ARTICLES/ESSAYS ON FEMINIST INTERPRETATIONS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE)

“When It Both Is and Is Not Rape: Gender Constructions in 2 Samuel 13:1-22.” In Celebrate Her for the Fruit of Her Hands: Studies in Honor of Carol L. Meyers, Susan Ackerman and
Charles E.. Carter, ed. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. 2015. Pgs. 61-80.

“Conventions/Contraventions: The Meanings of Public and Private for the Judges 19 Concubine.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 83 (June 1999): 83-98.

“Women’s Names and Naming.” In Women in Scripture, Carol L. Meyers, editor-in-chief. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2000. Pgs. 33-39.

“Living on the Edge: The Liminality of Daughters in Genesis to 2 Samuel.” In A Feminist Companion to Samuel and Kings, edited by Athalya Brenner. Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1994. Pgs. 26-42.

Dictionary entries (“Daughter of Jephthah,” “Companions of Jephthah’s Daughter,” “Daughters [and Sons] Who Prophesy,” “Daughter”) for Women in Scripture, Carol L. Meyers, ed.-in-
chief. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2000. Pgs. 243-44, 347, 517-19.

Dictionary entries (“Jezebel,” “Names and Naming”) for the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, D. N. Freedman, ed.-in-chief. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000. Pgs. 713-14, 944-46.

(ARTICLES/ESSAYS ON PEDAGOGY)

“Learning Through Drawing,” In Teaching Theology & Religion 17/4 (Oct 2014): 350-51.

“Teaching Gender in the Hebrew Bible.” In Teaching the Bible: an E-Pub for High School Teachers. Society of Biblical Literature. December, 2010.

Essay entries (“Debating Joseph,” “Comparing Portrayals of God,” “Role-Playing Biblical Narratives,” and “Acts 1-8 and the Early Church”) for Teaching the Bible: Practical Strategies for Classroom Instruction, edited by Mark Roncace and Patrick Gray. Atlanta: SBL Publications, 2005. Pgs. 108-9, 240-41, 247-48, 331-32

“A Tale of Two Teachers: How We Adapted the Same Graduate School Education to Two Different Institutional Realities,” Perspective in Religious Studies 27/4 (Winter 2000): 427-33. [with Sandra L. Gravett]

“Teaching Students by Having Students Teach (Dealing with the ‘Problem’ Sections of a Course).” Teaching Theology & Religion 3/3 (Oct. 2000): 170-76.

(ARTICLES/ESSAYS ADDRESSING LUTHERAN HIGHER EDUCATION)

“Introduction.” In Eco-Lutheranism: Lutheran Perspectives on Ecology, Karla Bohmbach and Shauna Hannan, eds. Minneapolis, MN: Lutheran University Press, 2013. Pgs. 5-14.

“What Sort of Claim Does the Bible Have Today?” In Hearing the Word: Lutheran Hermeneutics – A Vision of Life Under the Gospel, David C. Ratke, ed. Minneapolis, MN: Lutheran University Press, 2006. Pgs. 78-82.

“What Sort of Claims Does the Bible Have Today?”, “Rape: A Meditation on 2 Samuel 13,” and “The Sacrificing of Children: A Meditation on Judges 11,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics 4/5 (May 2004). On-line journal.

“Of Fathers and Feminism: How One Lutheran Woman Came to a Vocation,” Intersections: faith + life + learning 14 (Summer 2002): 31-40.