Pastor and Elementary School Teacher

▸ BA Religious Studies and History, University of Mississippi, 2010

“Since leaving UM, I have become a bi-vocational Pastor at Cornersville Baptist Church in Marshall County. While in ministry, I have completed a Master of Divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I am also a 4^th and 5^th grade Math and Science teacher at New Albany Elementary School in Union County.

I greatly treasure my time at UM and the experiences I had in the Religious Studies department. The content in each of my classes was definitely important, but what was more impactful was the respect and knowledge I gained for religious diversity in the world. I was challenged to never stop asking questions, and this is a skill I use every single day, whether in ministry, the classroom, or my personal life. The faculty at UM consistently modeled excellence, and they are who I wish to emulate in my own classroom, even though I am teaching much younger students. I will always cherish the memories made and lessons learned while at UM, and I hope the Religious Studies department continues to make a positive difference in the lives of young men and women like it did for me.”

Peace Corps Volunteer in the Education sector, Albania

▸ BA Religious Studies, University of Mississippi, 2014

“My religion degree has already contributed to my career path in more ways than one. My degree has shaped my mindset on the different world religions and helps me connect with people of different worldviews no matter what I end up doing or where I go. That alone is an asset in the workplace.

Working towards my degree showed me that I definitely have a desire to work with people directly. In the end, I know that I definitely want to work in the counseling field. I decided to join the Peace Corps upon graduating to get the experience I needed to continue on that path to the counseling field. I want to work with adolescence in a school setting and working toward my degree in religion taught me how to take an objective standpoint when it came to hard hitting topics, a practice that will be useful in the counseling field. The experiences I faced while an undergraduate in the Religion program at the University of Mississippi will forever be etched in my memory as the experiences that made me who I am today. I was forced to break out of timidness and interact with the world like I never had before. Because the department always invited a variety of experienced and diversified speakers annually, I was constantly being challenged intellectually and being shown new approaches to viewing the world. I was so fortunate to have participated in Harvard Divinity School’s Diversity and Explorations program in 2013. Interacting with current students and faculty there solidified my thoughts for what I wanted to do for the future. I also worked for the department for a couple of semesters and gained skills that shape what I do today. For example, I am currently a co-coordinator for a youth camp in my country of service in the Peace Corps. Being behind the scenes helping plan various events within the Religion department prepared me for such a job. Working under such an amazing faculty and staff was indeed a pleasure.

I can vividly remember my first year studying religion as a major and my last year studying religion as a major. The bottom line is that in my time as an undergrad one can see the improvement, growth, and genuine understanding of the different topics I studied. That is actually more than someone seeking their bachelors degree can ask for. It was more than just routine tasks to obtain my degree. It was the enhancement of my knowledge and the way I viewed and interacted with the world around me that proved important in the end.”

On January 6, 2021, tens of thousands streamed to Washington DC to speak out against what they saw as a fraudulent election that would unfairly elect Joe Biden as President and oust Donald Trump. Among the protestors were representatives of violent organizations, including Christian Nationalists, QAnon, and white supremacist hate groups who would proceed to commit domestic terrorism by storming the Capitol building in search of Congresspersons to attack, punish, and even kill. This lecture will explain the apocalyptic roots of radical right extremism to understand what makes the ideology of violent extremism appealing to so many, what we can expect in the future, and how we can finally begin to stem the cycle of radicalization and heal our nation.

Featured speaker Dr. Frances Flannery of James Madison University is currently a Trintiy Longroom Hub Humanities Fellow, Trinity College, Dublin, 2020-21 (extended to May 2022).  She is author and editor of over fifty-five publications large and small, including the co-edited Biblical Wisdon:  Then and Now (Routledge, 2021), Understanding Apocalyptic Terrorism:  Countering the Radical Mindset (Routledge, 2016), the co-edited The Bible in Political Debate:  What Does It Really Say? (Bloomsbury/T&T Clar, 2016), the co-edited Experientia, Vol. 1:  Inquiry into Relitious Experience in Early Judaism and Christianity (Brill/SBL 2008), and Dreamers, Scribes, and Priests:  Jewish Dreams in the Hellenistic and Roman Eras (Brill 2004).

Access a recording of the live lecture here:  https://olemiss.zoom.us/rec/share/HY-lYtdiFXJ89_yp1LiDjLf-vCsY6i1beA0mPC0VHQLmm3mSilkrVkOYdk2nN4e6.I6Z_eUUjhN3_w2jT

Instructional Assistant Professor of Religion

Bryant Hall 25  | 662–915–7020 | billings@olemiss.edu

Ph.D. Religious Studies McGill University

S.T.M. New Testament and Early Christianity Union Theological Seminary (in consortium with Columbia University and Jewish Theological Seminary)

B.S. + M.A. Religious Studies Cincinnati Christian University

Professional Background
Billings is a historian of religion and the author of the recent book, Acts of the Apostles and the Rhetoric of Roman Imperialism (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Dr. Billings specializes in the study of the New Testament and Early Christianity within the context of the ancient Mediterranean world. Prior to joining the Ole Miss faculty, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Miami, Kalamazoo College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Pepperdine University.

Teaching and Courses Offered
REL 101 Introduction to Religion
REL 312 New Testament and Early Christianity
REL 372 Rise of Christianity
REL 386 Religion and Film

SK Forrest

Adjunct Professor of Religion

Bryant Hall 100 | 662–915-7020 | forrest@olemiss.edu

Professional Background

I received my Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Harvard University in 2000. I received the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in 2007, which I competed at Harvard University. After teaching at Centre College in Danville, KY for three years, I joined the University of Mississippi faculty in 2012.

Teaching and Courses Offered
REL 101 Introduction to Religion
REL 320 Hinduism

Research Interests

My research focuses on Middle Persian texts, particularly polemic and apologetic Zoroastrian works and how they were affected by a new style of exegesis Islam introduced into Iran by the 8^th century. The result was a change in the way theologians of this ancient tradition began to present it to outsiders, systematically analyzing concepts they previously simply accepted on faith.

In my book Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers: the Concept of Evil in Early Iran, I examined the idea of evil found in ancient Avestan and Middle Persian Pahlavi Zoroastrian texts. In these scriptures, evil was strongly linked to women and other outsiders to organized religion. This resulted in ritual and social practices that placed them outside of the formal religious sphere. They formed separate religious and ritual spaces, which, while allowing them spiritual solace, also evolved into the practice of medicine, both herbal and magical. Ancient Iranians, like most ancient people, believed that illnesses of all kinds were ultimately the work of demons or their demonic human helpers. The priests believed that only the most dreadful of demons inflicted female illnesses. Priests forbade the knowledge of cures to women and so they created mantric and herbal cures themselves. Many priests came to believe that women who battled these demons finally succumbed to them and became witches and sorceresses. Men and women who neglected purity rules likewise became witches, whores, or sorcerers.

Publications

Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers: the Concept of Evil in Early Iran.  Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011.

Instructional Assistant Professor of Religion

DeSoto Student Services Center, Suite I | 662–393–9290 | stmille1@olemiss.edu

Ph.D., Florida State University

Professional Background
After finishing my B.A. at Liberty University (1999), I received my first M.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2003) and my second from McGill University (2005). I matriculated at Florida State University in 2007 and completed my Ph.D. in 2012. Before joining the faculty at the University of Mississippi in 2014, I was an Adjunct Professor of Religion at Florida State University for two years.

Teaching and Courses Offered
REL 300 Comparative World Religions
REL 310 The Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism
REL 312 New Testament and Early Christianity
REL/PHIL 351: Philosophy of Religion
REL/PHIL 360: Science and Religion
REL 366 Sex, Gender, and the Bible
REL 370 Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls
REL 372 Rise of Christianity
REL 375: Christianity in America
REL 385 Western Mysticism
REL 386 Religion and Film
REL 395 Special Topics: Jesus and the Gospels
REL 395 Special Topics: Revelation
REL 395 Special Topics: Angels and Afterlife in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity
REL 395 Special Topics: How the Bible Became a Book

Research Interests
Broadly speaking, my interests focus on Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity. In particular, my research concentrates on orality studies, performance criticism, memory studies, and media criticism of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Literature of the Second Temple period.

Publications

Dead Sea Media: Orality, Textuality, and Memory in the Scrolls from the Judean Desert. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 129. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

“Oral Tradition and the Dead Sea Scrolls” in Oral Tradition 33/1 (2019): 3-22.

“Traditional History and Cultural Memory in the Pesharim” in Journal for the Study of Judaism 50 (2019): 348–370.

“‘Sectual’ Performance of in Rule Texts” in Dead Sea Discoveries. 25 (2018): 15–38.

“Role of Performance and Performance of Role: Cultural Memory in Hodayot” in Journal of Biblical Literature. 137 (2018): 359–382.

“Multiformity of Stichographic ‘Systems’ in the Dead Sea Scrolls” in La Revue de Qumrân 29 (2017): 219–245.

“A Scribe Speaks: The Oral Register of Scribal Practices as Reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls” in Kleine Untersuchungen zur Sprache des Alten Testaments und seiner Umwelt 22 (2017): 75–100.

“Multiformity” in The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media. Edited by T. Thatcher, Chris Keith, Raymond Person, and Elsie Stern. London: T & T Clark, 2017.

“Performance Arena” in The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media. Edited by T. Thatcher, Chris Keith, Raymond Person, and Elsie Stern. London: T & T Clark, 2017.

“Communicative Economy” in The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media. Edited by T. Thatcher, Chris Keith, Raymond Person, and Elsie Stern. London: T & T Clark, 2017.

“תמך ‘to hold, support,’” in Theologisches Wörterbuch zu den Qumrantexten. Edited by H.-J. Fabry and U. Dahmen. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2016.

“The Oral-Written Textuality of Stichographic Poetry in the Dead Sea Scrolls” in Dead Sea Discoveries 22 (2015): 162–188.

Book Reviews

Review of Lloyd, M. Performances of Ancient Jewish Letters: From Elephantine to MMT.  Dead Sea Discoveries 24 (2017): 162–164.

Review of Penner, J., Penner, K., and C. Wassen, eds. Prayer and Poetry in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature: Essays in Honor of Eileen Schuller on the Occasion of Her 65th Birthday. Dead Sea Discoveries 21 (2014): 116–118.

Review of Lange, A., Weigold, M., and J. Zsengeller, eds. From Qumran to Aleppo: A Discussion with Emanuel Tov about the Textual History of Jewish Scriptures in Honor of his 65th Birthday. Dead Sea Discoveries 20 (2013): 162.

Review of Raymond, E. New Idioms Within Old: Poetry and Parallelism in the Non-Masoretic Poems of 11Q5 (= 11QPsa) Dead Sea Discoveries 19 (2012): 237–38.

Review of Petersen, A., et al., eds. Northern Lights on the Dead Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Nordic Qumran Network 2003-2006. Journal for the Study of Judaism 42 (2011): 107–08.

Fei Lan

Associate Professor of Religion

Areas: Chinese Religions, Religious Ethics, Comparative Religious Thought

Bryant Hall 19 | 662.915.7976 | flan@olemiss.edu

Ph.D., University of Toronto
M.Div., Harvard Divinity School

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
I received my B.A. in English literature from Peking University, Beijing China, M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, and Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Toronto. In 2011 I successfully defended my dissertation and taught as sessional faculty at both the University of Toronto and McMaster University in Canada. I joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2012.

James Bos

Associate Professor of Religion

Areas: Biblical Studies, Judaism

Bryant Hall 22 | 662.915.1367 | jmbos@olemiss.edu

Ph.D., University of Michigan

Professional Background
I completed my M.A. (2005) and Ph.D. (2011) in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan. I joined the faculty in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Mississippi in 2012.

Teaching Interests
I currently teach The Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism; The New Testament and Early Christianity; Introduction to Abrahamic Traditions; Judaism; Sex, Gender, and the Bible; and Introduction to Religion.

Research Interests
My recent research has focused on the production and transmission of the prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible, including how these books contribute to our understanding of the development of early Jewish monotheism. I am currently examining how these books may have functioned as propaganda in Persian-period Judah (5^th century BCE).

Publications

Bos, James M. “The Use of Memories about Judah’s Past Leadership as Propaganda in Yehud.” In Memory and Leadership in Yehud [tentative title]. Edited by Ehud Ben Zvi and Diana Edelman. In Progress.

Bos, James M. “The ‘Literarization’ of the Biblical Prophecies of Doom.” In Tradition, Orality, and Literacy in Ancient Judah: Contextualizing the Production of Holy Writ. Edited by Brian B. Schmidt. Society of Biblical Literature. Forthcoming 2014.

Bos, James M. Reconsidering the Date and Provenance of the Book of Hosea: the Case for Persian-Period Yehud. Library of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament Studies. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Adams, Matthew J. and James M. Bos, “Area J (The 2004-2008 Seasons). Part IV: The Middle and Late Bronze Ages, Stratigraphy and Architecture.” In Megiddo V. Edited by Israel Finkelstein, et al. Pages 93-114. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology, 2013.

Bos, James M. “Lahav Research Project/Tel Halif, Field Reports, 2007 Season.” Emory University, 2008.

Book Reviews

Review of Jason T. LeCureux, The Thematic Unity of the Book of the Twelve (Sheffield: Sheffield, 2012), Review of Biblical Literature (forthcoming).

Review of Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), Review of Biblical Literature (forthcoming).

Review of Reinhard Kratz, Prophetenstudien: Kleine Schriften II (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), Journal of the American Oriental Society (forthcoming).

Review of Robert Gnuse, No Tolerance for Tyrants: The Biblical Assault on Kings and Kingship (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2011), Review of Biblical Literature 03/2013.

Review of Jean-Daniel Macchi, et al., eds. Les recueils prophétiques de la Bible: Origines, milieux, et contexte proche-oriental (Geneva: Labor et Fides, 2012), Review of Biblical Literature 01/2013.

Review of Jo Ann Hackett, A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2010), Journal of the American Oriental Society 131.1 (2011) 141-3.

Mary F. Thurlkill

Professor of Religion
Areas: early Church History, medieval Christianity and Islam, Gender Studies

Bryant Hall 021
662.915.1400 | maryt@olemiss.edu

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
I received my Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Indiana University in 2001 and joined the University of Mississippi faculty in 2003. I specialize in classical and medieval Christianity and Islam, with interests in Merovingian Gaul, Shi`ism, and gender studies.

TEACHING INTEREST
I teach a wide range of classes within the department, covering both Christianity and Islam. Some courses, such as Western Mysticism and Abrahamic Traditions, allow for exciting comparative work, which I particularly enjoy. One of my favorite assignments, for example, is to compare the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son (Isaac/Ishmael) by reading the related scripture and traditions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. With this one narrative, students are able to explore the significance of sacrifice, obedience, humanity, and mercy while engaging in inter-religious dialogue.

Even though I am not an expert in eastern traditions, I also enjoy teaching our introductory level course (REL 101) which serves as a basic introduction to some of the world’s major religions. I am continuously amazed by the variety of ways human beings conceive of—and relate to—divinity.

RESEARCH INTEREST
My first book Chosen Among Women: Mary and Fatima in Medieval Christianity and Shi’ite Islam, was published by the University of Notre Dame Press (2008). This is a comparative study of the Virgin Mary in medieval Christianity and Fatima (the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter), in Shi`ite Islam. I am working on a second monograph, also comparative in nature, entitled “Odors of Sanctity: Distinctions of the Holy in Early Christianity and Islam.” Herein, I examine the ‘odiferous landscape’ of the Mediterranean world and trace how Christians and Muslims utilized scents to create sacred space and identify holiness (and sin).