Fall 2021

Section 1500 of HUMAN8
Comparative Mythology -- : Aug 16 - Dec 10 2021
Optional Zoom meetings will take place on Mondays from 6:00PM-8:00PM. Attendance at these Zoom meetings is recommended but not required.

Section 3025 of RELS2
World Religions -- : Aug 16 - Dec 10 2021
Optional Zoom meetings will take place on Tuesdays from 6:00PM-8:00PM. Attendance at these Zoom meetings is recommended but not required.

Spring 2021

Section 8527 of RELS32
Religion in America -- : Jan 25 - May 21 2021
Zoom meetings will take place for each class session at the days/time(s) listed above. Students are expected to be online with functioning internet, mic, and/or camera for the duration of the live session.

No office hours

Spring 2021

  • Religious Studies 32 - Religion in American, Online Zoom Mondays, 1:30-3:00
  • Office Hours: Mondays, 3:00-4:00, via Zoom
  • Click here to schedule an appointment. 

NOTE: 

  • The best way to reach me is by email eschmidt@santarosa.edu
  • Students enrolled in my classes: please email me with the name you go by & pronouns you use if they don't match your enrollment records, so I can use the correct ones at the first class meeting. Sensitive information will be kept confidential. 
  • Contact me ASAP if book costs for my courses exceed your budget. Budget should not limit your access to education. I can probably help.
  • Students of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities/presentation, immigration status, and abilities/disabilities are welcome in my classes.
  • The ACLU has a page with Know Your Rights information.
  • PhD - ABD Religious Studies (with an emphasis in Ancient Mediterranean Studies) University of California, Santa Barbara
  • MTS, New Testament & Early Christianity, Harvard University
  • BA, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Academic Experience
  • 2013-present Adjunct Faculty, Santa Rosa Junior College
  • 2012-2013 Adjunct Faculty, California Lutheran University
  • 2010-2011 Teaching Associate, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 2005-2012 Teaching Assistant, University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Courses Taught at SRJC:

  • Religious Studies 1: Introduction to Religious Studies
  • Religious Studies 2: World Religions
  • Religious Studies 21: The Hebrew Bible
  • Religious Studies 22: Early Christian Literature
  • Religious Studies 32: Religion in America
  • Humanities 4.1: Western Humanities: Arts, Ideas, & Values (Prehistory - Renaissance)
  • Humanities 4.2: Western Humanities: Arts, Ideas, & Values (Renaissance - Present)
  • Humanities 6: Humanities in the US
  • Humanities 8: Comparative Mythology

 

Courses taught at other institutions:

  • Introduction to Christianity
  • New Testament & Early Christianity
  • Academic Writing

Pronouns: she/her/hers

I was born and raised in Santa Rosa, where I watched too much Indiana Jones as a kid and went to Catholic high school. So, I developed an interest in really old things and religion. I think and teach about how people have experienced being human and the  roles religion plays in the human experience.

I am a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts, holding both Silver and Gold Awards. I performed with the Northern California Renaissance Faire for 10 years (prior to starting graduate school). I like science fiction, historical fiction, crime procedurals, and fantasy (both traditional and urban/paranormal) novels, film, and television.

"The beauty of anti-racism is that you don't have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it's the only way forward." -author Ijeoma Oluo

 

NOTE:

  • The best way to reach me is by email eschmidt@santarosa.edu
  • Students enrolled in my classes: please email me with the name you go by & pronouns you use if they don't match your enrollment records, so I can use the correct ones at the first class meeting. Sensitive information will be kept confidential. 
  • Contact me ASAP if book costs for my courses exceed your budget. Budget should not limit your access to education. I can probably help.
  • Students of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities/presentation, immigration status, and abilities/disabilities are welcome in my classes.
  • The ACLU has a page with Know Your Rights information.

 

 

Professional Areas of Interest
  • Religions in the Roman Empire (Greco-Roman Traditions, Christianity, and Judaism)
  • Archaeology of Religion
  • Space & Material Culture
  • Religious Identity
  • Politics of Religion and Empire
Professional Involvement and Community Service
  • 2017-present North American Association for the Study of Religion
  • 2009-present American Academy of Religion
  • 2009-present Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  • 2003-present Society of Biblical Literature
Presentations and Publications

PUBLICATIONS

2017  “Secrecy, Stories, and Boundaries” In Fabricating Identities, ed. Russell T. McCutcheon (Sheffield: Equinox, 2017), 89-94

 

2010 “The Flavian Triumph and the Arch of Titus: The Jewish God in Flavian Rome.” UC Santa Barbara: Ancient Borderlands Research Focus Group.

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

2014 "Shaping Jerusalem, Shaping Identity: Herod, the Flavians, and the Gospel of Mark." Westar Institute Spring 2014 Meeting: Archaeology: Rewriting Early Christian History, 21 March 2014.

 

2012 "Herod's Edifice Complex." Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, 18 November, 201

 

2011 "Ritual and Architecture in Flavian Rome: The Shaping of Imperial Image" UCSB Productive Geographies Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Graduate Conference, 29 April 2011

 

2010 "Presence and Absence: Flavian Propaganda and the Destruction of the Jewish Temple." Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, 23 November 2010

 

2010 "The Flavian Triumph and the Arch of Titus: The Jewish God in Rome." UCSB Ancient Borderlands International Graduate Student Conference: Beyond Borders: Ancient Societies and their Conceptual Frontiers, 16 April 2010

 

2007 "The Res Gestae Divi Augusti as Monument." Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, 17 November 2007