Education
Ph.D., Religion, Duke University, May 1999
Major: New Testament and Christian Origins, Minors: Judaism, Greco-Roman Religion
M.A., Religion, University of Georgia, June 1992
Major: New Testament, Minor: Judaism
B.A., Political Science, University of Georgia, June 1990
Minor: Religion
Positions Held
Professor, May 2010—present, Department of Religious Studies, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Southern Methodist University
Chair of Department, Jan. 2008—Aug. 2012
Associate Professor, Sept. 2006—May 2010
Assistant Professor, Aug. 2000—Aug. 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor, Sept. 1999—May 2000, Department of Religion, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Duke University
Fellowships and Grants
Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 2017—2018
Gerald J. Ford Research Fellowship, SMU, 2016
Dedman College Dean’s Research Council Research Grant, SMU, 2015
Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute Annual Fellow, SMU, 2013—2014
University Research Council Research Grant, SMU, 2011, 2008, 2003, 2001
American Academy of Religion Collaborative Research Grant, 2002
Awards
HOPE (“Honoring Our Professors’ Excellence”) Honoree, SMU Department of Residence Life and Student Housing, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2009, 2006, 2003, 2002
Caren Prothro Faculty Service Award, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, SMU, 2018
HOPE Professor of the Year, SMU Department of Residence Life and Student Housing, 2017, 2004
“M” Award (for university service), SMU, 2009
Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Award, SMU Center for Teaching Excellence, 2007
Maguire Public Scholar, Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, SMU, 2006
Golden Mustang Outstanding Faculty Award, SMU Center for Teaching Excellence, 2004
Rotunda Outstanding Professor, SMU Yearbook, 2003
Godbey Lecture Series Author Award, SMU, 2003
Books
The Bible in the Public Square: Its Enduring Influence in American Life, co-edited with Carol Meyers and Eric M. Meyers (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014).
Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, with Eric M. Meyers (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012).
Redefining First-Century Jewish and Christian Identities: Essays in Honor of Ed Parish Sanders, co-edited with Fabian Udoh, Gregory Tatum, and Susannah Heschel (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2008).
Greco-Roman Culture and the Galilee of Jesus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
The Myth of a Gentile Galilee (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Articles and Essays (Selected)
“Archaeology of Galilee, the Gospel of John, and the ‘Judean’ or ‘Jew’ Translation Debate,” in James R. Strange and C. Thomas McCollough, eds., Studies in the Archaeological, Historical, and Literary Context of the New Testament in Honor of the Work of James F. Strange (Jerusalem: Ostracon Press) (forthcoming).
“The Bible and the Curriculum of American Public Schools (K-12) in the Twenty-First Century,” in David Shefferman and Claudia Setzer, eds., The Bible in American Culture (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2020), 189-226.
“Museum of the Bible, Christian Zionism, and the Passages Israel Trip,” in Jill Hicks-Keeton and Cavan Concannon, eds., The Museum of the Bible: A Critical Introduction (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/ Fortress Academic, 2019), 275-294.
“Teaching about the Bible in a Social Studies Context,” in Charles Haynes, ed., Teaching about Religion in the Social Studies Classroom (Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies, 2019), 91-94.
“Project Blitz’s Bible Literacy Act and the 2019 Bible Course Bills,” The Bible and Interpretation (2019).
“The Bible and American Public Schools in Historical Perspective,” in Michael D. Waggoner and Nathan C. Walker, eds., The Oxford Handbook on Religion and American Education (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 271-282.
“Foreword,” in E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (Fortieth Anniversary Edition, Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017), xi-xxvi.
“Religious Instruction, Public Education, and the Dallas High Schools Bible Study Course (1923-1985),” Church History 86:1 (2017): 145-177.
“Teaching about Religion in Red-state America,” in Matthew Sutton and Darren Dochuk, eds., Religion and Politics in Twenty-First Century America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 163-179.
“The Ethnicities of Galilee,” in David A. Fiensy and James Riley Strange, eds., Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods 100 BCE–200 CE (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014), 112-128.
“Rewriting History for a Christian America: Religion and the Texas Social Studies Controversy of 2009-2010,” Journal of Religion 94:3 (2014): 325-353.
“Public School Bible Courses in Historical Perspective: North Carolina as a Case Study,” Religion & Education 40:3 (2013): 253-269; reprinted in Chancey, Meyers, and Meyers, eds., The Bible in the Public Square: Its Enduring Influence in American Life (2014); excerpted as “How Public Schools Began Offering Bible Courses: The Perspective from North Carolina” at The Bible and Interpretation (2014).
“Disputed Issues in the Study of Cities, Villages, and the Economy in Jesus’ Galilee,” in Craig Evans, ed., The World of Jesus and the Early Church: Identity and Interpretation in Communities of Faith (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2011), 53-67.
“Archaeology, Ethnicity, and First-Century CE Galilee: The Limits of Evidence,” in Zuleika Rodgers with Margaret Daly-Denton and Anne Fitzpatrick McKinley, eds., A Wandering Galilean: Essays in Honour of Sean Freyne (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2009), 205-218.
“The Bible, the First Amendment, and the Public Schools in Odessa, Texas,” Religion and American Culture 19:2 (2009): 169-205.
“‘Complete Victory is Our Objective’: The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools,” Religion & Education 35:1 (2008): 1-21.
“Sectarian Elements in Public School Bible Courses: Lessons from the Lone Star State,” Journal of Church and State 49:4 (2007): 719-742.
“A Textbook Example of the Christian Right: The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 75 (2007): 554-581.
“Bible Bills, Bible Curricula, and Controversies of Biblical Proportions: Legislative Efforts to Promote Bible Courses,” Religion & Education 34 (2007): 28-47.
“The Epigraphic Habit of Hellenistic and Roman Galilee,” in Jürgen Zangenberg, Harold W. Attridge, and Dale B. Martin, eds., Religion, Ethnicity, and Identity in Ancient Galilee: A Region in Transition (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 2007), 83-98.
“How Jewish was Jesus’ Galilee?” Biblical Archaeology Review 33:4 (2007): 42-50, 76; republished in The Galilee Jesus Knew (Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 2008), 2-13.
“City Coins and Roman Power in Palestine: From Pompey to the Great Revolt,” in Douglas R. Edwards, ed., Religion and Society in Roman Palestine: Old Questions, New Approaches (New York and London: Routledge, 2004), 103-112.
“The Archaeology of Roman Palestine,” with Adam Porter, in Near Eastern Archaeology 64 (2001): 164-203.
“The Cultural Milieu of Ancient Sepphoris,” New Testament Studies 47:2 (2001): 127-145.
“How Jewish was Sepphoris in Jesus’ Time?” with Eric M. Meyers, Biblical Archaeology Review 26:4 (2000): 18-33, 61; reprinted in Hershel Shanks, ed., Where Christianity was Born (Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 2006), 2-19 and Sarah Yeomans, ed., Israel: An Archaeological Journey (Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 2009), 26-43.
Reports
Can This Class Be Saved? The “Hobby Lobby” Bible Curriculum (Austin: Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, 2014).
Reading, Writing & Religion II: Texas Public School Bible Courses in 2011-12 (Austin: Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, 2013).
Reading, Writing & Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools (Austin: Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, 2006).
The Bible and Public Schools: Report on the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (Austin: Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, 2005).