University / institution contact details
Position: Lecturer/Professor
Faculteit der Godgeleerdheid en Godsdienstwetenschap, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen)
Oude Boteringestraat 38
Groningen
9712 GK
Netherlands
Teaches (T) and/or researches (R) in:
1. Bible and Related Literature: TR
Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran studies: TR
6: New Testament: T
Medieval exegesis: TR
2. History of the Jewish People: TR
Late Antiquity: TR
Medieval: TR
Biographical Studies: TR
3. Religion and Religious Movements: TR
Jewish religion - general: TR
Rabbinic Judaism: TR
Karaism: TR
Liturgy and prayer: TR
4. Jewish Thought and Philosophy: TR
Medieval Philosophy: TR
6. Literature (other than Biblical and Rabbinic): TR
Medieval (including scientific, poetry, Genizah studies): TR
7. Languages: TR
Aramaic: TR
10. Jewish Studies and Resources: TR
Bibliography: TR
80: Librarianship and Archives: R
Description
As a beginning undergraduate I had the good fortune to stumble into the religious studies department of McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada) when E. P. Sanders, Ben F. Meyer, Albert Baumgarten, and Alan Mendelson were forging the field of \'Judaism and Early Christianity\' from historical and literary perspectives. It blew my mind and hooked me for life. That good fortune continued (mostly) in grad school, first at McMaster with the same teachers and then in Toronto with Richard Longenecker, Schuyler Brown, John Hurd, Joseph Plevnik, and others (Ph.D. University of St. Michael\'s College, 1986). After comprehensives I received funding from Canada\'s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for year-long research stays at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (working mostly with Daniel R. Schwartz) and the University of Tübingen (with Martin Hengel and Otto Betz).
By the time I finished the Ph.D. I viewed my field as the history of the eastern Roman provinces, with a focus on Judaea from 200 BCE to 200 CE, including the origins of Christianity and Jewish-Roman-Christian relations.
After bouts of employment as a security guard and in part-time academic work, I found full-time work at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Religious Studies), York University in Toronto (Humanities, Classical Studies, Religious Studies, and finally [Ancient] History), The Pennsylvania State University (Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies), and since July 2011, the University of Aberdeen (Divinity and Religious Studies). For my last eight years at York I was privileged to hold the (Tier I) Canada Research Chair in Greco-Roman Cultural Interaction, based in the History Department.