Teaching and Pedagogy

“Whether discussing fantastic beasts, trans activists and Corinth, or the obvious presence of women leaders in the early Christianity, from the first day of class to the final exam, my students know they can and should debate, disagree, and expect the unexpected.”

My pedagogy brings to life sacred texts and religious traditions. In Introduction to Biblical (or New Testament) studies, students articulate what it means to be a responsible public biblical interpreter by exploring how biblical texts and the interpreters make meanings in both historical and contemporary contexts. In Living Religions or Queer and Trans Religions, we seek to consider the experiential sensations of religion and ask how different traditions and identities interact and assemble. In Hidden Figures and Early Christianity, students embody ancient queer wo/men from non-canonical sources by performing them as “teams” (or ekklēsiai, the Greek word for “assemblies”/“churches”)—sometimes by turning them into Tony-eligible musical sketches! Discussion drives these classes: I meet students where they are by listening to their questions and instincts and then connect them to course learning goals.

In all of my courses, students engage scholars like Audre Lorde and Kimberlé Crenshaw so they can approach critical analysis of religious texts and contexts through a lens of intersectionality. Using this lens, students reflect on how to articulate course learning to the audiences and communities to whom they are accountable through creative projects, including creating blogs and/or podcasts.

Courses Taught (* = additional information featured below):

• Introduction to Biblical Studies* (REL 101; Luther College)

• Introduction to New Testament Studies* (REL 112; Luther College)

• Hidden Figures in Early Christianity* (REL 239; Luther College)

• Queer and Trans Religions* (REL 239; Luther College)

• Living Religions (REL 250; Luther College)

• The World of the Bible (REL 204; Luther College)

• Beginning Greek and Greek Exegesis (BBST 545 and 546; Drew Theological School)

• Gender and Society (SOC 4301; Kean University)

• Introduction to Religions of the World (REL 1700; Kean University)

• Western Religions (REL 2702; Kean University)

Introduction to Biblical Studies and Introduction to New Testament Studies

In these intro-level courses, students become intersectional interpreters by exploring biblical texts and how sacred texts make meaning. Students experience how interpreting sacred texts (and talking about religion) can be like playing with fire, especially as they learn how biblical texts have been used to justify racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, anti-queerness, transphobia, and colonization even as the Bible has been used in the service of justice and liberation. Students analyze intersectionality in biblical texts by creating collaborative annotation guides that focus on these issues.

Students often feel intimidated about reading and discussing their interpretations of the Bible, so I pair biblical texts with short stories and books from contemporary speculative fiction to help them gain confidence as interpreters, see how biblical texts shape contemporary worlds, and forge creative connections between different texts as independent and collaborative readers. By the end of the course, students express confidence in becoming public biblical interpreters who responsibly discuss biblical texts as they continue to appear and affect contemporary culture.

Hidden Figures in Early Christianity

Who tells your story? asks the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, in a clip that we watch on the first day of this class. As we turn to Margot Lee Shetterly’s book Hidden Figures and put her historical inquiry into conversation with the stories of early Christianity, students learn that Hamilton’s driving question is only one among many critical questions that must be posed by public historians: how do we tell history? And whose stories get told?

Students engage a range of non-canonical, first-century sources—including Egyptian erotic spells that express desire between wo/men (as documented by Bernadette Brooten); Pompeiian graffiti; ancient statues and monuments; hymns to the Egyptian goddess Isis; and the Acts of Thecla. By reading these primary texts, hidden figures of the ancient world come to life: people of many different ethnicities and skin colors; women; queer folks; and enslaved persons. These figures were not just present: they were active leaders and shapers of history whose stories have been ignored and actively hidden by particular historical agendas.

Throughout the class, students put ancient sources in conversation with contemporary historical and theoretical perspectives—including Shetterly and Hamilton as well as Patricia Herrera, Cathy J. Cohen, and C. Riley Snorton. As they do, they assess current work of historians of early Christianity and integrate this work into their own interpretations of ancient sources. The course culminates when teams of students form their own early Christian assemblies who perform original, creative embodiments of these “hidden figures” that retell their stories for contemporary audiences.

Queer and Trans Religions

While taking this class, students explore answers to the question: What does it mean to be trans, queer, and religious? We examine how different LGBTIA2Q+ folks engage and shape their own religious traditions and assess the ways LGBTIA2Q+ folks from different religious traditions interact with one another. The differences and interactions between queer and trans folks of different religious traditions, different racial/ethnic identities, and different global locations are central to the course learning goals. Through readings, videos, podcasts, and experiential classroom engagement, students learn how “queer and trans religion” is not a monolithic culture.

The class engages with current scholarship in trans and queer studies and considers the range of ways that queer and trans scholars, clergy, and practitioners work with and create religious ideas, rituals, texts, and histories and explore how they engage with ethics, politics, and culture. As we learn about different expressions of trans and queer religiosity, students will analyze and assess their own and other’s responses to the question: Does queer and/or trans identity forge connections across religious differences?