Profiles

Summer 2020

• Online, asynchronous, Humanities 8: Comparative Mythology
• Office Hours TBA, via Zoom

NOTE: 

• The best way to reach me is by email eschmidt@santarosa.edu 
• Contact me ASAP if book costs for my courses exceed your budget. Budget should not limit your access to education. I can probably help. Don't buy textbooks with a no return policy!
• Students of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities/presentation, immigration status, and abilities/disabilites are welcome in my classes.
• 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. 
• 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 Divintiy School
• 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. I developed an interest in really old things and religion. I think and teach about how people have experienced being human and 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: 

• 2014-present Westar Institute
• 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. Permanent link: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9xw0k5kh

 

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

• Know Your Rights The ACLU's informational page with details about civil rights (Police or ICE stops, Search warrants, Protests, Religious freedom, etc)
• SRCJ Dream Center Information about & help for going to college as an undocumented student resident.
• Register to Vote in California CA Secretary of Sate online voter registration form.
• SRJC Student Health Services Healthcare Services & Psychological Services for SRJC Students.
• Covered California (ACA) Health insurance via Affordable Care Act in California. Find out what you qualify for!
• Transferring to CSU California State University System: Information for applying as a transfer student.
• Transferring to UC University of California: Information for applying as a transfer student.
• What is the Academic Study of Religion? 2 page overview (pdf) of the academic study of religion by Russell T. McCutcheon.
• Why study Religion? Overview of why you should study religion, produced by the American Academy of Religion.
• How to Get the Most Out of Studying Stephen Linn Chew has 5 short videos on studying efficiently.
• The American Academy of Religion American professional society for scholars of religion.
• The Society of Biblical Literature Professional society for scholars of Biblical literature and Biblical worlds.
• Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions Professional interdisciplinary society for scholars of religions in the ancient Mediterranean.
• The Westar Institute An institute fostering scholarship & sharing scholarship with the public. Meets in SR every Spring!
• Early Christian Writings Public domain translations, links, and bibliographies for Christian writings 1st-4th centuries.
• Early Jewish Writings Public domain translations, links, and bibliographies for Jewish Writings to the 1st century CE.
• Bible Odyssey A peer-reviewed site for Biblical scholarship by members of the Society of Biblical Literature.
• Ancient Jew Review The Ancient Jew Review is a non-profit web journal devoted to the study of Ancient Judaism.
• Religion Dispatches Journalistic blog about religion, politics, & culture. Edited & authored by scholars & journalists.

Podcasts & YouTube Channels about Religion

• The Religious Studies Project Weekly podcasts about the study of religion & log of RS opportunities
• Religion for Breakfast & Religion for Breakfast You tube channel Andrew Henry's blog & channel dedicated to academic, nonsectarian study of religion.
• Keeping it 101: A Killjoy's Introduction to Religion An intro to religion podcast hosted by Ilyse Morgenstei Fuerst & Megan Goodwin
• NT Pod Mark Goodacre's Podcast. Brief podcasts about academic study of the New Testament. 
• The Septuagint Sessions Timothy Michael Law's Podcast on the Septuagint & related literature.
• Straight, White, American Jesus Bradley Onishi & Dan Miller's podcast about religion & poltics in America - esp. about evangelicalism