For those of you who are really curious, this is my basic bio with publications and professional activities. Good cure for insomnia. Also, several of the papers are available at: Academia.edu.

STEVE A. WIGGINS, Ph.D.

CURRENT POSITION
Editor, Religious Studies, Some University Press, November 2013-

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

Routledge, Editor, Religion and Anthropology, September 2011–October 2013

711 Third Avenue, Floor 8

New York, New York 10017

Rutgers University, Part Time Lecturer, September 2007–August 2011

Department of Religion

School of Arts and Sciences

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

70 Lipman Drive

Loree Building, Room 130

New Brunswick, New Jersey  08901-8525

Montclair State University, Adjunct Instructor, January 2010–May 2011

Department of Classics and General Humanities

Montclair State University

Dickson 104

Montclair, New Jersey 07043

Gorgias Press LLC, Acquisitions Editor, October 2006–June 2009

954 River Road

Piscataway, New Jersey 08854

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Lecturer in Religious Studies, September 2005–July 2006 (One-year Replacement Position)

Department of Religious Studies and Anthropology

800 Algoma Boulevard

Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901

Ripon College, Occasional Guest Lecturer, Spring 2006

Department of Religion

Ripon, Wisconsin 54971

Carroll College, Adjunct Instructor, September 2003–May 2004

100 North East Avenue

Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186

Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary, Associate Professor and Academic Dean, September 1992–July 2005

2777 Mission Road

Nashotah, Wisconsin 53058 

Academic Dean (concurrent with full teaching load), December 1998–July 2005.

Associate Professor, July 1996–July 2005.  

Registrar, July 1995–June 1999 (concurrent with full teaching load)

Assistant Professor, August 1992–June 1996: promoted at the initiative of the seminary.  

Other Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, University of Edinburgh 1991–1992

Religion 1 (tutorial); one hour weekly in conjunction with Religious Studies Department, prepared for and facilitated discussion on matters covered in class.

Greek Tutor, Boston University 1985–1986

Teaching Assistant, Grove City College 1984–1985

GREK 312 (Third-year Greek, language instruction), a three-hour course team-taught with and under the supervision of the Head of the Religion Department, taught one half of the class sessions, prepared and instructed Greek translation.

Religion-Philosophy Tutor, Grove City College 1982

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh, 1992

Edinburgh, Scotland.

• Field: History of Religions, focus on Ancient West Asian Religions, Ancient Israel, and Hebrew Bible
• Thesis: “Athirat, Asherah, Ashratu: a Reassessment According to the Textual Sources”  
• Supervisors: Professor J. C. L. Gibson, Department of Hebrew and Old Testament Studies, Professor N. Wyatt, Department of Religious Studies, University of Edinburgh
• Examiners: Professor N. Wyatt (internal); Doctor W. G. E. Watson, Universities of Newcastle and Barcelona (external)
• Classes completed at the University of Edinburgh (the University did not keep doctoral-level transcripts at this period): 

• Ugaritic Translation (three years)
• Hebrew Translation (two years)
• Northwest Semitic Epigraphy (one year)
• Akkadian Translation (one semester)
• Ugaritic Religion (one semester)
• Egyptian Religion (one semester).

Master of Theological Studies, cum laude, Boston University School of Theology, 1987 Boston, Massachusetts.  

Master of Theological Studies in Biblical Studies and Church History.

Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, Grove City College, 1985 

Grove City, Pennsylvania.  

Bachelor of Arts, highest honors in major, Religion.

COURSES TAUGHT

Miskatonic Institute for Horror Studies, New York (non-credit)

Believing in Sleepy Hollow (2023)

Rutgers University (three credit-hour courses, 2007–2011)

Religion 201/Judaic Studies 220: Hebrew Bible (two-to-four sections annually, from 2007)

Religion 301: Ancient Near Eastern Religions (2008, 2009, 2010: two sections, 2011: two sections)

Religion 303/Judaic Studies 325: Hebrew Prophets: Social and Religious Thought (2009, 2010, 2011)

Montclair State University (three credit-hour course, 2010–2011)

General Humanities 285: Mythology (2010–2011, six sections)

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (three credit-hour courses, 2005–2006)

Religious Studies 101: Exploring Religion/World Religions (two sections)

Religious Studies 106: The Bible and Current Events (two sections)

Religious Studies 203: Hebrew Bible

Religious Studies 204: New Testament

Religious Studies 210: Christianity

Religious Studies 275: Myth and Mystery

Carroll College (four credit-hour courses, 2003–2004)

Religion 102A: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Fall 2003

Religion 204A: The Prophets, Spring 2004

Nashotah House (three credit-hour courses 1992–2005)

Hebrew Bible 1: Introduction to Hebrew. Language Instruction. Annual.

Hebrew Bible 2: Introduction to the Pentateuch. General Survey. Annual.

Hebrew Bible 3: Introduction to the Prophets. General Survey. Annual.

Hebrew Bible 4: Introduction to the Writings. General Survey. Annual.

Hebrew Bible 16:  Genesis 1–11: Science and Scripture. Seminar (2004).

Hebrew Bible 201: Genesis 1–11: Science and Faith. STM Seminar (2003).

Hebrew Bible 12a:  The Psalms in History and Music. Seminar (2002).

Hebrew Bible 14a:  Primeval History?  Genesis 1-11. Seminar (2001).

Hebrew Bible 14:  The Psalms. Seminar (1999).

Hebrew Bible 12:  The Psalms in Worship. Seminar (1997).

Old Testament 11: Social Background to the Old Testament. Seminar (1995).

New Testament 1:  Introduction to the Gospels. General Survey (1994).

Old Testament 10:  The Book of Hosea. Seminar (1994).

Hebrew 2:  Hebrew Reading. Language Instruction (1993).

Old Testament 125:  The Book of Genesis. Seminar (1993).

Other Relevant Experience

2005 Freelance Copy-Editor, Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta.

1987 Archaeological Volunteer, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.  

Trained as square supervisor while working on an archaeological dig at Tel Dor, Israel.

PUBLICATIONS 

Books

2025 Sleepy Hollow as American Myth: Irving’s Story Retold, Adapted and Cemented in Popular Culture.  Jefferson, NC: McFarland Books, in press. ISBN: 978-1-4766-9757-4.

2023 The Wicker Man.  Devil’s Advocates.  Liverpool: Auteur/Liverpool University Press.  ISBNs: 978-1-83764-388-2 (paperback); 978-1-83764-466-7 (hardcover).

2021 Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Its Demons.  Horror and Scripture. Lanham, MD: Lexington/Fortress Academic Press.  ISBN: 978-1-9787-0318-6.

2018 Holy Horror: The Bible and Fear in Movies.  Jefferson, NC: McFarland Books.  ISBN: 978-1-4766-7466-7.

2014 Weathering the Psalms: A Meteorotheological Survey. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.  ISBN: 978-1-62564-777-1.

2007 A Reassessment of Asherah: With Further Considerations of the Goddess. Gorgias Ugaritic Studies 2. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN: 978-1-59333-717-9.  Second edition of below.

1993 A Reassessment of ‘Asherah:’ A Study According to the Textual Sources of the First Two Millennia B.C.E.  Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Band 235.  Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag. ISBN: 978-3-7666-9870-4.

Articles

TBD “Representations,” (invited) with Debbie Fenton in A Cultural History of Monsters in Antiquity, Debbie Fenton, editor.  London: Bloomsbury.  Under contract, article complete.

2025b “The Religion of The Conjuring Universe,” in The “True” Case Files of the Warrens: Essays on The Conjuring Franchise, Todd Platts, editor.  Accepted, Lehigh University Press.  Article complete and submitted.

2025a “From Fallen Angel to Goat,” in Caprine Gothic, Simon Bacon, editor.  Accepted, University of Wales Press.  Article complete and submitted.

2021 “The Theological Origins of Horror,” in Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination, Brandon R. Grafius and John W. Morehead, editors.  Theology and Pop Culture series. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic: 21–40.

2020a “Gods on the Mind,” in Some Wine and Honey for Simon: Biblical and Ugaritic Aperitifs in Memory of Simon B. Parker,  A. Joseph Ferrara and Herbert B. Huffmon, editors. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications: 65–87.

2020b “Literature in the Ancient Near East,” in The Cambridge Companion to Bible and Literature, Calum Carmichael, editor.  New York: Cambridge University Press: 7–25.

2019 “Good Book Gone Bad: Reading Phinehas and Watching Horror,” Horizons in Biblical Theology 41.1: 93–103.

2017 “Reading the Bible in Sleepy Hollow,” The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 28.2–3 [2016]: 187–198. Online at: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/647626. 

2010 “Wheel, Tumbleweed or Whirlwind?  galgal in the Hebrew Bible,” MAARAV 15.2 [2008]: 175–192.

2009 “A Reassessment of Tikva Frymer-Kensky’s Asherah,” in  In the Wake of Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Stephen Holloway, Jo-Ann Spurlock and Richard Beal, editors. Gorgias Précis Portfolios 4. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press: 171–180.

2008a “Foreword” in Eugene Seaich, A Great Mystery; The Embracing Cherubim in the Jerusalem Temple. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.

2008b “Echoes through the Millennia: Musical Journeys to the Underworld,” in ‘He Unfurled his Brow and Laughed,’ Essays in Honour of Nicolas Wyatt, W. G. E. Watson, editor. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 299.  Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag: 335–350.

2003 “Pidray, Tallay and Arsay in the Baal Cycle,” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 29/2: 83–101.

2001 “Of Asherahs and Trees: Some Methodological Questions,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 1, 158–187.

2000 “The Weather under Baal: Meteorology in KTU 1.1–6,” Ugarit Forschungen 32, 577–598.

1999a “The Current State of Ugaritic Studies and Technology,” with Theodore J. Lewis.  In Handbook of Ugaritic Studies. Handbuch der Orientalistik 39.  W. G. E. Watson and N. Wyatt, editors.  Leiden: E. J. Brill: 734–746.

1999b “Tempestuous Wind doing Yhwh’s Will: Perceptions of the Wind in the Psalms,” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 13/1: 3–23.

1998a “What’s in a Name?  Yarih at Ugarit,” Ugarit Forschungen  30: 761–779.

1998b “Asherah Again: T. Binger’s Asherah and the State of Asherah Studies,” review article, Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages  24/1: 231–240.

1997a “Between Heaven and Earth: Absalom’s Dilemma,” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages  23/1: 73–81.

1997b “A Rejoinder to J. Glen Taylor,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament  73: 109–112.

1996a “Yahweh: the God of Sun?” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 71: 89–106.  

1996b “Shapsh, Lamp of the Gods,” in Ugarit, religion and culture. Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Ugarit, religion and culture: Edinburgh, July 1994  Essays presented in honour of Professor John C. L. Gibson.  Ugaritisch-Biblische Literatur, Band 12.  N. Wyatt, W. G. E. Watson and J. B. Lloyd, editors.  Munster: Ugarit Verlag: 327–350.

1995 “Asherah: Books, Articles, and Dissertations,” in Women in the Biblical World: A Study Guide.  By Mayer I. Gruber.  Volume 1: Women in the World of Hebrew Scripture. American Theological Library Association Bibliography Series, No. 38.  Lanham, MD, and London: Scarecrow Press: 227–232.

1993 “Old Testament Dagan in the Light of Ugarit,” Vetus Testamentum 43: 268–274.

1991 “The Myth of Asherah: Lion Lady and Serpent Goddess,” Ugarit Forschungen 23: 383–394.

Electronic Publications

2024 “The Influence of Television Horror on Cinematic End Times,” Horror Homeroom, May 14, site: https://www.horrorhomeroom.com/the-influence-of-television-horror-on-cinematic-end-times-the-case-of-kolchak/

2023a  “Exorcising The Pope’s Exorcist,” Horror Homeroom, August 25, site: https://www.horrorhomeroom.com/exorcising-the-popes-exorcist/

2023b  “Women and Water Monsters,” Horror Homeroom, May 23, site: https://www.horrorhomeroom.com/women-and-water-monsters/

2023c  “May Day Mayhem,” Liverpool University Press Blog, May 1, site: https://liverpooluniversitypress.blog/2023/05/01/may-day-mayhem-setting-the-scene-of-the-wicker-man/

2023d “Reclaiming Jewish Monsters in The Offering,” Horror Homeroom, January 25, site: https://www.horrorhomeroom.com/reclaiming-jewish-monsters-in-the-offering/

2022a  “Hollow Wicker Tree,” Horror Homeroom, May 1, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/hollow-wicker-tree/

2022b “Ratting out Disney: From Willard to Ratatouille,” Horror Homeroom,  April 23, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/ratting-out-disney-from-willard-to-ratatouille/ 

2022c “The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord,” Horror Homeroom, January 10, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/the-great-and-terrible-day-of-the-lord/

2021a  “What To Do When the Exorcist Is Absent,” Horror Homeroom, August 6, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/what-to-do-when-the-exorcist-is-absent/

2021b “Is the Golem the Perfect Jewish Monster?” Horror Homeroom, February 10, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/is-the-golem-the-perfect-jewish-monster/

2020a  “Resurrecting Pet Sematary,” Horror Homeroom, December 23, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/resurrecting-pet-sematary/

2020b  “The Legends of Sleepy Hollow,” Horror Homeroom, October 16, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/the-legends-of-sleepy-hollow/

2020c  “Burnt Offerings: What’s in a Name?,” Horror Homeroom, August 17, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/burnt-offerings-whats-in-a-name/

2020d  “Midsommar and Cross-Quarter Day Horror,” Horror Homeroom, June 21, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/midsommar-and-cross-quarter-day-horror/

2020e  “Demons or Ghosts?  The Religion in Connecticut,” Horror Homeroom, April 17, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/demons-or-ghosts-hauntings-in-connecticut/

2020f “Religion and Sex in The Lighthouse and The Witch” Horror Homeroom, February 23, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/religion-and-sex-in-the-lighthouse-the-witch/

2019a  “Horror’s Exotic Religion?” Horror Homeroom, August 22, site: http://www.horrorhomeroom.com/horrors-exotic-religion-the-marked-ones-curse-of-la-llorona/

2019b “The Horror Bible,” Oxford Biblical Studies Online, Focus On piece, January 15, site: http://global.oup.com/obso/currentfocus/

2016a “Study Bible Sampler,” Oxford University Press Blog, April 5, site: http://blog.oup.com/2016/04/study-bible-sampler/

2016b “When’s Easter?” Oxford University Press Blog, March 25, site: http://blog.oup.com/2016/03/when-is-easter/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=oupacademic&utm_campaign=oupblog

2016c “Sleepy Hollow’s Apocalypse,” Oxford University Press Blog, March 23, site: http://blog.oup.com/2016/03/sleepy-hollow-apocalypse/

2015a “Endangered Speeches: Why it Matters (for All of Us) That Conservative Seminaries Are Firing Professors over Theology,” Religion Dispatches, July 7, site: http://religiondispatches.org/endangered-speeches-why-it-matters-for-all-of-us-that-conservative-seminaries-are-firing-professors-over-theology/

2015b “Freezing Our Way to a Fiery Hell?” Religion Dispatches, March 5, site: http://religiondispatches.org/freezing-our-way-to-a-fiery-hell/

2014 “Fired GTS Professors Go Back to Work, For Now,” Religion Dispatches, October 29, site: http://religiondispatches.org/fired-gts-professors-go-back-to-work-for-now/ 

2012 “The Religious Implications of Nudity, or Religion Bares All Things,” Religion Dispatches, March 2, site:

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/5746/the_religious_implications_of_nudity/ 

2011 “Silver Bells and Atheist Billboards,” Religion Dispatches, December 8, site:

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/5466/silver_bells_and_atheist_billboards/

2000a Ugaritic Tablets Digital Edition, with B. E. Zuckerman, W. T. Pitard, T. J. Lewis,  F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, and J. A. Hackett.  Site: http://www.relst.uiuc.edu/utde. (Currently under the auspices of Inscriptifact, http://www.inscriptifact.com.)

Book Reviews

2017a  Yamasaki, Gary, Insights from Filmmaking for Analyzing Biblical Narrative, Insights series (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016), Review of Biblical Literature, site:https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11513 

2017b  Balmer, Randall, Evangelicalism in America (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016), Reading Religion (American Academy of Religion), site: http://readingreligion.org/books/evangelicalism-america

2017c Hernandez, Jill Graper, Early Modern Women and the Problem of Evil: Atrocity & Theodicy (New York: Routledge, 2016), Reading Religion (American Academy of Religion), site: http://readingreligion.org/books/early-modern-women-and-problem-evil

2017d Barzilai, Maya, Golem: Modern Wars and Their Monsters (New York: NYU Press, 2016), Reading Religion (American Academy of Religion), site: http://readingreligion.org/books/golem

2016a Junior, Nyasha, An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2015), Reading Religion (American Academy of Religion), site: http://readingreligion.org/books/introduction-womanist-biblical-interpretation

2016b   Anderson, James S., Monotheism and Yahweh’s Appropriation of Baal, The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2015), Review of Biblical Literature, site: https://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/10729_11921.pdf

2011a Penn Jillette’s Signs You May Already Be an Atheist; God, No! Yes? Religion Dispatches, November 1, site: http://www.religiondispatches.org/books/atheologies/5333/penn_jillette’s_signs_you_may_already_be_an_atheist/

2011b Partridge, Christopher and Eric Christianson, eds. The Lure of the Dark Side: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture (London: Equinox, 2009). Review solicited by Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception 1:1, site: http://www.relegere.org/index.php/relegere/article/viewFile/407/397

2008  Smith, Mark S. The Rituals and Myths of the Feast of the Goodly Gods of KTU/CAT 1.23 (RBS 51). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures (electronic journal).

2004  Cross, Frank Moore.  Leaves from an Epigrapher’s Notebook: Collected Papers in Hebrew and West Semitic Palaeography and Epigraphy (HSS 51).  Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66: 337–339.

2003a  Schloen, J. David.  The House of the Father as Fact and Symbol: Patrimonialism in Ugarit and the Ancient Near East (SAHL 2).  Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2001. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 65: 267–268.

2003b Smith, Mark S.  The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.  Society of Biblical Literature Online Book Reviews, site: http://www. bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=1735.

2002a  Burnett, Joel S.  A Reassessment of Biblical Elohim (SBLDS 183).  Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64: 735–736.

2002b  Burnett, Joel S.  A Reassessment of Biblical Elohim (SBLDS 183).  Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. Journal of Biblical Literature 121/3: 538–540; Online Book Reviews, site: http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=1708.

2001a  Clapp, Nicholas.  Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.  The Living Church October 7: 34.

2001b  Hadley, Judith M.  The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah: Evidence for a Hebrew Goddess.  Cambridge: University Press, 2000.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 323: 102–103.

2001c  Hoppe, Leslie J.  The Holy City: Jerusalem in the Theology of the Old Testament.  Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2000.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 63: 521–522.

2001d  Williams, Prescott H. Jr. and Theodore Hiebert, eds.  Realia Dei: Essays in Archaeology and Biblical Interpretation in Honor of Edward F. Campbell, Jr. at His Retirement.  Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 321: 93–95.

2000a  Balentine, Samuel E.  The Torah’s Vision of Worship (Overtures to Biblical Theology).  Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 62: 713–714.

2000b  Gleis, Matthias.  Die Bamah (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 251).  Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1997. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 62: 122–123. 

2000c Zehnder, Markus Philipp.  Wegmetaphorik im Alten Testament (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 268).  Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1999. Society of Biblical Literature Online Book Reviews, site: http://www.bookreviews.org/Reviews/3110163004.html.

1998  Binger, Tilde.  Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament (JSOTSup 232, CIS 2).  Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 311: 98–99. 

1997a  Edelman, Diana V., ed.  The Triumph of Elohim: From Yahwisms to Judaisms. (Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology 13).  Kampen: Pharos, 1995. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 305: 89–90.

1997b  Fox, Everett.  The Five Books of Moses: A New Translation with Introductions, Commentary and Notes (The Schocken Bible 1).  New York: Schocken Books, 1995.  Anglican Theological Review  79: 595–596.

1997c  Hiebert, Theodore.  The Yahwist’s Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly  59: 541–542.

1996a  Dietrich, Walter and Martin A. Klopfenstein (eds.),  Ein Gott allein?  JHWH-Verehrung und biblischer Monotheismus im Kontext der israelitischen und altorientalischen Religionsgeschichte (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 139).  Fribourg:  Editions universitaires;  Göttingen:  Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly  58: 181–182.  

1996b  Mettinger, Tryggve N. D.  No Graven Image? Israelite Aniconism in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context (ConBOT 42) Stockholm: Alqvist & Wiksell, 1995.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly  58: 719–720.

1995a  Burkert, Walter and Fritz Stolz, eds. Hymnen der Alten Welt im Kulturvergleich (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 131).  Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen, 1994.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly  57: 618–619.

1995b  Handy, Lowell K. Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Phoenician Pantheon as Bureaucracy. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1994.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 297: 94–95.  

1995c  Henshaw, Richard A. Female and Male: The Cultic Personnel.  The Bible and the Rest of the Ancient Near East  (Princeton Theological Monograph Series 31).  Allison Park, PA: Pickwick, 1994.  Journal of Biblical Literature 114/4: 711–712.

1994  Janzen, Waldemar. Old Testament Ethics: A Paradigmatic Approach.  Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994.  Anglican Theological Review  76: 524–526.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, PANELS, AND LECTURES

Conference Papers and Panels

Invited

2025 The British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Horror Studies Special Interest Group, Weekday Night Bites panelist, “No Safe Space: Places and Spaces of Horror Cinema,” April 30.  With panelists Kev Bickerdike, Alissa Burger, Miranda Corcoran, Mark Fryers, Marcus Harmes, and Robert Mclaughlin; Christina Brennan, chair.

2021 Invited to discussion of  Ancient and Modern Ideas of Possession conference, University of Innsbruck, 29–30 September (via Zoom).

2017 “How to Get Published,” Graduate Student Seminar, Drew University Theological School, Madison, NJ, 6 April.

2016 “Academic Publishing from the Inside,” American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting, San Antonio, 22 November. Panelist and presenter.

2015  “The Climate of Belief,” Rutgers Presbyterian Church Autumn Guest Speaker Program, New York, New York, 26–27 September. 

2007 “A Reassessment of Tikva Frymer-Kensky’s Asherah,” Society of Biblical Literature, (Assyriology and the Bible Section) San Diego, 19 November. 

2005  “Future of the Episcopal Church,” Wisconsin Tridiocesan Convention (Episcopal Church), Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 30 April.

2005 “A New Perspectives on the Divine World of Ugarit,” Congrès International Sherbrooke 2005: Le royaume d’Ougarit de la Crète à l’Euphrates.  Nouveaux axes de recherché, Sherbrooke, Quebec, 8 July.

1990 “Who is Asherah and What is She Doing Here with Yahweh?” University of Edinburgh Old Testament Seminar, Edinburgh, Scotland, 16 May.

Submitted

2021 “Horror Films and Religion—Why?” presented at Virtual Voices Author Fair: A Day of Nonfiction Books, online, 6 March (via Zoom).

2015 “Sensing the Bible in the Television Series Sleepy Hollow,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta (Society for Comparative Research on Iconographic and Performative Texts Section), 23 November.

2008 “Paradox and Consistency between Ugarit and Israel,” presented at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, New Brunswick, NJ: 28 March.

2003 “‘The Greeks had a Word for it:’ the Pantheon and Ugarit,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section), Atlanta, 24 November.

2002 “Pidray, Tallay and Arsay,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Toronto (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section), 24 November.

2001 “Wheels, Whirlwinds, and Tumbleweeds: galgal in the Hebrew Bible.  When Context leaves Meaning Ambiguous,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Denver (Hebrew Lexicography Section), 19 November.

2000 “Baal as the Storm God of Ugarit,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section), Nashville, 19 November.

1999 “Cutting Down Asherahs: the Goddess and the Tree,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Israelite Religion and Cognate Literature Section), Boston, 20 November.

1998 “Does Yarikhu Drive the Moon?” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section), Orlando, 23 November.

1997 “A Paradigm for Suspended Rulers: Absalom and Athtar,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section), San Francisco, 23 November.

1996 “What Does Attar have to do with Absalom?” presentation to Nashotah House Faculty Seminar, 12 November.

1994 “Shapshu: the Forgotten Goddess,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section) Chicago, 21 November.

1992 “The Myth of Asherah: Lion Lady and Serpent Goddess,” presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section), San Francisco, 22 November.

Lectures, Consultations, and Interviews

2025  Invited panelist, Beyond Academia 2025 Conference, University of California, Berkeley, 27 February (online).

2025 Reader-evaluator, grant proposal for the Israel Science Foundation, The Oral Dimensions and Aspects of performance of Ugaritic Religious-Poetic Texts, February. 

2024  Boston University School of Theology, Shively Smith’s Graduate Student Fireside presentation on how to get published (6 November, online).

2024 Transylvania University, Leslie Ribovich’ Senior Seminar class guest lecture on Holy Horror (3 April).

2023 Claire Donner, New York Director, Miskatonic Institute for Horror Studies, consulted on horror and belief for the lecture, “‘Based on a True Story’: The Importance of Audience Faith in The Amityville Horror” (January; consulted October through December 2022)

2022 Fourth Annual Easton Book Festival, Speculative Writing panel with Robert Repino and Andrew Uzendoski (October).

2022 The Incarcerated Christian podcast, interviewed on Nightmares with the Bible (October).

2022 New Books Network, interviewed on Nightmares with the Bible (March).

2021 Third Annual Easton Book Festival, interviewed on Nightmares with the Bible; interviewed author Robert Repino (October)

2021 The Incarcerated Christian podcast, interviewed on Holy Horror for two podcasts (October).

2021 Theofantastique, interviewed on Nightmares with the Bible (April).

2020 Religion and Horror, consultation with Brandon Grafius, by Douglas Cowan and Zach Doiron (November).

2020 Joseph Laycock (Texas State University) consultation on Nightmares with the Bible (August).

2020 Consulted by student at Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City regarding Holy Horror (April). 

2020 Q2 Films. Consulted for independent film on Asherah (several consultations throughout the year). 

2019 Theofantastique, interviewed on Holy Horror (May).

2010 Hoggard Films, for National Geographic Society. Consulted on research for Asherah documentary.

2009 Ammonius Foundation. Consulted on feasibility of philosophy project.

2009 360 Intellectual Equity. Consulted on translation technique for and philosophy of Genesis.

2008 Neal T. Stephenson (New York Times best-seller list author), Anathem. New York: Harper Collins. Consulted for the development of a cuneiform alphabet for use in the story (acknowledged on website).

1999 Seattle Area History Book Club.  Consulted in a telephone conference on the topics of goddess worship and deluge-origins theory.

1992 Neal T. Stephenson, Snow Crash. New York: Bantam Books. Consulted on the topic of Asherah (cited in the acknowledgments).

ACADEMIC AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

2024 Blurb writer, Lehigh University Press, January.

2023a  Reader-reviewer, AcademFic, December.

2023b Reader-reviewer, Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies, June.

2023c  Reader-reviewer, Journal of the Bible and its Reception, May and July.

2022a  Participant and presenter, fourth annual Easton Book Festival, Easton, Pennsylvania, October.

2022b  Reader-evaluator, Critical Conversations in Horror Studies series, Lehigh University Press, October. 

2022c Blurb writer, Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, July.

2021a Participant and presenter, third annual Easton Book Festival, Easton, Pennsylvania, October.

2021b Reader-reviewer, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, September.

2021c Presenter, Jewish Film Night, ’Til Kingdom Come, June 29, Jewish Community Center, Allentown.

2021d Reader-evaluator, grant proposal for the Israel Science Foundation, The Asherah in the Bible and Ancient Israel, January.

2020–2022  Board of Trustees member, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, PA.  Vice-president, 2021–2022.

2020–present  Coordinator, Breakfast Forum, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, PA.

2019–present  Executive Advisory Committee, Journal of Gods and Monsters.

2019–2021  Worship Committee, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, PA.

2019  Participant and presenter, first annual Easton Book Festival, Easton, Pennsylvania, October.

2017a Community Course on Racism, Central Jersey Community Coalition, 21 October.

2017b  Initiated and established new unit “Monsters and Monster Theory” for American Academy of Religion annual meeting with Kelly Murphy (Central Michigan University) and Joseph Laycock (University of Texas at Austin).  Renewed 2018, 2019, 2022.

2017c Stand Central New Jersey, grassroots movement participation for public education, member.

2017d Story Pirates, New York, NY; commenting on stories to help grade-school children with writing.

2014–present  Green Committee, Oxford University Press. 

2014  Presenter, International Steampunk City, Speedwell, NJ, “Ancient Tech,” 12 October.

2012  Reader-reviewer, Vetus Testamentum.

2011  Reader-reviewer, Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception. 

2010–2011  President, Team 102 Foundation; FIRST Robotics, Somerville NJ High School Robotics Team Foundation; Mentor 2009–2013.

2008 Designer of Cuneiform Script, Neal Stephenson, Anathem. 

2006–2018 Volunteer support: 4-H, Somerset County; Girl Scouts, Heart of New Jersey.

2003–2009 Chair, Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section of the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Two terms, (Atlanta, San Antonio, Philadelphia, Washington, San Diego, Boston, New Orleans).

2004–2005  President, Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO), Oconomowoc Public School District; active member from 2000.  Representative to the Summit Elementary School Effectiveness Team.

2003  Reader-reviewer, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

2000  Summit Elementary School Building Committee.

1999 Member of the Information Technology for Theological Teaching grant writing team, Nashotah House, spring semester.

1998–2005  Academic Dean, Nashotah House, ex officio on all committees.

1998–2005  Chair of Academic Policy Committee, Nashotah House.

1997  Assistant Biblical Literature Book Review Editor for Anglican Theological Review.

1995–2006  Member of the Milwaukee area Hebrew Bible Reading Group.

1995–2002 Faculty representative to the Board of Trustees of Nashotah House, fall 1995 to fall 1997; fall 2000 to spring 2002.  Trustee Committee: Academic Affairs. 

1995–1999  Seminary Registrar. 

1994–2005a  Abstractor for Old Testament Abstracts; abstracts appear from volume 17. 

1994–2005b  Faculty Committees at Nashotah House: Tenure Policy, fall 1994; Master of Sacred Theology Degree, fall 1994–2005; Academic Policy, fall 1994–2005; General Curriculum of the Seminary, spring 1995; Course Evaluation Review, spring 1998; Convocation, summer 1999; Faculty Evaluation fall 1999-2005; Library Committee, spring 2000–2005; Master of Theological Studies Degree, spring 2000; Scholarship Committee, 2001; Admissions Committee, 2002–2005.

1990–1991  University of Edinburgh: Divinity Student Council, postgraduate representative, 1990–1991; Postgraduate representative to the Faculty, 1990–1991. Initiated postgraduate undergraduate teaching program at New College as part of my role as student representative.

1985–1987  Boston University: Theological Student Association, Master of Theological Studies Representative, 1985–1986; School of Theology Judicial Committee, convener, 1986–1987.

1982–1985  Grove City College: Alpha Epsilon Chi housing group, 1982–1985; Round Table service honorary, 1982–1983; Clowns for Christ, founder and president, 1982–1985.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS

2017 Preventing Sexual Harassment and Promoting Diversity.  Oxford University Press.  Legal mandatory training for promoting inclusiveness and preventing misconduct.

2014–present  Preventing Bribery.  Oxford University Press.  Mandatory online seminar on business ethics.

2010 Constructing and Teaching Online Courses.  Rutgers University.  Professional training for setting up online courses in Blackboard or Sakai.

2009 Preventing Sexual Harassment. This Rutgers University online program was mandatory for all employees. Presented by Rutgers University and New Media Learning.

2008 Managing Multiple Projects, Objectives and Deadlines Seminar, Skillpath Seminars, Freehold, New Jersey.

2003 Prevention of Sexual Misconduct. The seminar was conducted by the Church Pension Fund (Episcopal Church), New York, at Nashotah, Wisconsin.  This seminar was required of all employees, and my participation was certified.  Also attended in 1995.

2001 Episcopal Seminary Faculties Conference on Teaching and Learning.  Built around seminars by teaching consultant Parker Palmer, this conference was a first-time gathering of faculty from all eleven Episcopal seminaries.  Mundelein, Illinois, 8–10 September.

2001 Conference for Chief Academic Officers.  The conference was sponsored by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 29–31.

2000 ATS 2000: A Model for Bringing Technology and People Together.  The conference demonstrated how a seminary could incorporate technology to benefit the educational process.  Convened at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, 6–7 October. 

1999 Academic Leadership in Theological Education: Concepts and Contexts.  The seminar was presented by the Association of Theological Schools, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 17–19 March. 

1997 Conflict Management.  The purpose of the seminar was to make all members of my current institution aware of better interpersonal techniques.  Conducted by Conflict Management Incorporated Concord Group, Chicago, Illinois, over two years.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES 

American Academy of Religion.  Member from 1998 to 2000, 2011–2013, 2016–2017, 2022–present.

American Association of University Professors.  Member 2004–2011.

American Schools of Oriental Research.  Member from 1990–2000.

Society for Old Testament Study.  Inducted as Associate Member, January 1994.

Society of Biblical Literature.  Member from 1990–present. 

Chair of Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Section for 2003–2009 Annual Meetings.

Westar Institute Fellow, from 2021.

Wisconsin Geological Society.  Inducted as member, September 2002.  Parliamentarian 2004.

RESEARCH-SERVICE AWARDS

Professional

2005  Appreciated Professor Award, Appreciate a Professor Program, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, fall semester.

1997 Lilly Small Grants Program, administered by the Association of Theological Schools.  Awarded grant for purchase of computer software for the Ugaritic Tablets Digital Edition project.

1996  Nashotah House Foundation Grant, Nashotah House Seminary.  Provided funds to purchase computer hardware necessary to participate in the Ugaritic Tablets Digital Edition project.

Doctoral

1990–1991  The Frank D. Howard Fellowship, Boston University.

1989–1991  University of Edinburgh Postgraduate Studentship.

1989–1991  Overseas Research Student Scheme Award.

1989  The William Jackson and Anna Worden Lowstuter Fellowship, for alumni of Boston University.

1988  The Edmund M. Beebe Fellowship for Graduate Studies, for alumni of Boston University.

Undergraduate

1985  The John A. Courtney Award in Religion-Philosophy, Grove City College.

1985  Scroll and Key Academic Honorary, Grove City College.

1983  The Appalachian Scholarship, Presbyterian Church.

1983  The Laura M. Smedley Scholarship, Grove City College.

1982–1984  The Edward F. Olechovsky Scholarship for Classical Study, for

excellence in Greek, Grove City College.

1981–1982  The Frank D. and Clara R. Williams Scholarships, private, for high 

school grades.

1981  The Glen and Mary Sutherland Scholarship, Grove City College.

1981  The William H. Locke Scholarship, private, for high school grades.

GENERAL

Languages

Classical Hebrew, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Phoenician and Northwest Semitic dialects, Epigraphic South Arabian, Akkadian and Greek (Koiné).  Additional reading knowledge: German, French, Spanish and Italian.

Projects

Past

• Individual research project on the history of the idea chaos, beginning with the Chaoskampf theme in ancient Western Asian mythology and tracing the idea into the present scientific concept of chaos theory.  Intended as a book length project: The Rediscovery of Chaos.
• Individual research project on the deities of celestial phenomena in the ancient world.  Project goal: to publish a book on Northwest Semitic understanding of atmospheric and astronomic phenomena: Astral Deities of Ugarit: Shapash, Yarih and Attar.
• Invitation to contribute to Biblical Refigurations series, volume on Noah (Oxford University Press).  This project has been stalled due to conflict of interest as an employee of Oxford University Press.

 Completed

• Monsters and Religion; as part of establishing a new AAR unit (see above under Academic and Community Activities and Services) I researched the role monsters play in reception history of the Bible. This has led to three published books. 
• Editor/epigrapher with the Ugaritic Tablets Digital Edition section of the West Semitic Research Project based at the University of Southern California (Bruce Zuckerman) and the University of Illinois (Wayne Pitard). Other collaborators are: Jo Ann Hackett (then of Harvard University), F. W. Dobbs-Allsop (Princeton Theological Seminary), Theodore Lewis (Johns Hopkins University), and Brian Schmidt (University of Michigan). Based on completely new macro-photographs of the texts, this project has as its goal the continuous publication of a comprehensive, electronically digitized, photographic edition of all known Ugaritic tablets, with epigraphic commentary, on the world-wide web. Project duration: 1995–2004. This eventually became part of the InscriptiFact Digital Image Library.

Electronic Networks

Academia.edu, WordPress, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, Medium, [Google+]