Spring 2025
Section 4990 of RELS15
Islam -- : Jan 13 - May 16 2025
This section has no regularly scheduled meetings.
Fall 2024
Section 2563 of RELS6.66
History of Satan -- : Aug 19 - Dec 13 2024
This section has no scheduled meetings.
Currently I am teaching five classes online with Synchronous meetings of one hour per week for each class on zoom.
I will hold office hours specific to each of my sections immediately following each weekly zoom session; in addition to that I will have an open office hour on
Thursdays from 3:30-5:00 at this zoom ID: 97357096842
You can join that open discussion by going to the zoom website, click "Join a Meeting" and typing in the above ID. No password is needed.
Assuming COVID restrictions will be largely lifted by fall 2021, I will be teaching some classes face to face, but will continue to offer online sections as well.
1980 Certificate in Religious Studies, King's Temple Academy, Seattle, WA
1981 Certificate in Graphic Arts, Washington Technical Institute, Seattle, WA
1986 B.A. Northwest University, Kirkland, WA, Summa Cum Laude
Major: Religion and Philosophy; Minor: Greek
1989 M.A. Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, Summa Cum Laude
Field: Theology; Emphasis: Biblical Languages and Exegesis
1994 Ph.D. (A.B.D.) Graduate Theological Union/UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Major: Hebrew Bible Minor: New Testament Minor: Hellenistic Jewish Philosophy
2015 Online Certification as Cycling Instructor, American Sports and Fitness Association
2020 Completed Spanish 1, 2, 3 and 4 at SRJC with 4.0 GPA
2020 Online Certification in Online Pedagogy
Languages: I have various levels of reading, writing and speaking facility in 10 languages in addition to my native English. Primary (reading fluency & speaking competence): Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic; Intermediate reading, writing and speaking: Spanish; Rusty but still there: German and French; Secondary reading and writing facility: Classical Latin, Syriac, Ugaritic and Classical Arabic
2001-Present: Regular Faculty in the Philosophy, Humanities and Religion Department
Instructor of Religion and Humanities, also
Modern and Classical Language Department; Instructor of Classical Hebrew and Greek
Coordinator for the Religious Studies Major, Santa Rosa Junior College.
Courses: HUMAN 8: Comparative Mythology;
RELS 1: Intro to Religion; RELS 3: History of God; RELS 6.66: History of Satan;
RELS 15: Islam; RELS 21: Hebrew Bible; RELS 22: Early Christian Literature;
RELS 32: Religion in America; HEBREW 1; HEBREW 2; Advanced Hebrew and Attic Greek as
Independent Study
1992-2001 Adjunct Instructor of Religious Studies, SRJC
Part-Time Teacher and Guest Lecturer in Religious Studies and Theatre Arts
in various Sonoma and Napa County Schools and Conservatories
1999-2000 Adjunct Instructor, Department of English; Instructor of Drama, Pacific Union College
Guest Lecturer, Acting, Napa Valley College
1999-2002 VIP Wine Tour Guide and Lecturer on Greek Mythology, Clos Pegase, Calistoga, CA
1989-1991 Teaching and Research Assistant, Center for Jewish Studies, and UC Berkeley
1989-1991 Teaching Assistant, Old Testament, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley
1987-1989 Instructor, Elementary and Intermediate Greek, Fuller Theological Seminary
1988-1989 Instructor, Elementary Biblical Hebrew, Fuller Theological Seminary
1987-1989 Teaching Assistant, Old Testament, Fuller Seminary
A native of Seattle, I discontinued a career as a professional actor (I got my Equity Card at age 15) to pursue higher education in Religious Studies. Having completed two certificate programs and a BA in Seattle area institutions, I came to California for graduate school. I did my MA in Pasadena at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I also began my teaching career, first as a teaching assistant and tutor, then as an instructor of Greek and Hebrew. In 1989 I came to the Bay Area for a PhD program at Berkeley. I lived in Berkeley for two years taking seminars in Bible, Languages, Archaeology and Rhetoric, culminating in my completion of doctoral exams in five languages (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, German, and French), and General Comprehensive Exams in Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Deuterocanonical literature. During this time I also was a Research Assistant for the Center for Jewish Studies, and a Hebrew Bible TA, and I began teaching one course per semester way up north in Santa Rosa JC. I moved to Santa Rosa in 1991 as a full-time sabbatical replacement (a temporary one-year appointment). I stayed in Santa Rosa after the year was over, completed my PhD work (1994) and taught as an adjunct here and a few other places as well. I was hired as a full time regular faculty member in 2001. My primary passions are ancient religious literature, the arts-- primarily the theatre, and encountering the natural world. In addition to teaching Religion Studies, Myth and ancient Hebrew at the college, I also teach, direct and act in local theatres, go backpacking whenever I can and ride a bicycle for transportation.
I am captivated by almost any area of ancient languages, religion, mythology, history and philosophy. I also spend a lot of time studying biological and cultural evolution and modern "witch hunts." The primary focus of my graduate education was the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and its various historical contexts, the ancient Near Eastern as well as Greco-Roman; secondarily the New Testament and Early Christianity and its interaction with indigenous ("pagan") religious traditions; thirdly Classical Islamic literature including Al-Qur'an, Ahadith, As-Sira, and Shari'a. My main current interest is mythopoesis (myth-making), its psycho-social function, and religious institutionalization: where do myths come from? What forces and impulses shape the making of myths? How do myths work in societies? How are myths canonized and interpreted by later generations of people who inherit them as sacred but live in a different "world" than those who formed them? Since I began teaching History of Satan in 2008, I have adopted a focused research program studying medieval and modern social movements that exemplify the vilification of a social group as the source of evil in the society: the medieval and early modern witch hunts (1400-1700); the "Satanic Panics" of the 1980's and 90's, and present day manifestations like QAnon.
My College Service includes:
Curriculum Committee, Equivalency Committee, Program Review Committee, and Accreditation Standard II Work Group. I also serve at the State Academic Senate level on the Standards and Practices Committee.
I served as Academic Senate President of SRJC from fall 2016 to spring 2020.
I served as Academic Senate Executive Committee from 2011-2016 as Vice President and President-Elect
Altogether I served on the Academic Senate for 14 years: 2006 - 2020
Below is a small sampling; I typically do several such speaking engagements every year.
Ancillary but related Community Service:
The Dramatic Arts:
Since the age of 9, a few years ago now, I have been an actor, and all around theatre artist. My training and experience in the theatre contributes both to my teaching style and to my depth in the discipline area of "Humanities." I trained in Theatre Conservatories in Seattle, sponsored by The Seattle Rep, The Empty Space, The Bathhouse Theatre and the Poncho Theatre. I once belonged to Actor's Equity (the Stage Actors Union), and have acted in well over a hundred and twenty community, regional, and professional stage productions. I have also worked backstage in various capacities and directed about a dozen productions. In addition, I have taught theatre history and acting at the elementary, high school, and college level, and acted in film and TV. For example, I appeared 5 times on "J.P. Patches", a Seattle Children's show, played Houdini in a History Channel piece on psychics, and was a featured extra in the 2008 film "Bottle Shock" starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine.
Zoom Office Hours Thursdays 3:30-5:00
Sourcery: The Evolution of Satan through Primary Sources. LAD, 2015, revised 2020.
Comparative Mythology: The Ancient Near East. LAD. 3rd Ed. 2010. A textbook containing selections of Ancient Near Eastern creation and flood myths including my own translation and notes of Ancient Greek, Hebrew and Ugaritic texts.
"B'Reshit 1-3: A New Translation of Genesis 1-3 with Introduction, Notes and Commentary." Class Reader, SRJC, 2008.
"Is The God of the Bible Ever Universal?" Universalist Friends. Num. 43:Feb. 2006, pp. 7-16.
This article has been reprinted in a book: Universalism and Religions. Ed. Patricia Williams. Quaker Universalist Press, 2007.
"The Worst Thing About ID." The Oakleaf, Jan. 18, 2006, p. 8.
"Structural Clues to the Epistemology and Ethics of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes)" (a paper presented to the GTU doctoral faculty 1994)
"Pedagogical Irony in Aristophanes and Biblical Wisdom Literature" (a paper presented to the Society of Biblical Literature, 1993)
"Justifying the Ways of Yahweh" (a paper presented to the Society of Biblical Literature, 1992)
"Building an Old Testament Library", The Catalyst, 1992
"Philosophical and Religious Syncretism in the Wisdom of Solomon" (a paper presented to Fuller Seminary faculty, 1988)
Tauzer Lecturer, 2011
A Lectureship in recognition of Teaching Excellence. The Lecture is given to the Faculty, Administration, and Staff of the College in the Spring Semester on PDA.
SRJC Academic Senate President's Award For Outstanding Contributions in Leadership, 2010
Recognizing meaningful service to the District.
NISOD Award for Teaching Excellence, 2005
Voted Best Comic Actor in Sonoma County by John Beck of the Press Democrat for the role of Albert Einstein in Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile (June, 2000).
Summa Cum Laude, Fuller Seminary, 1989
William Sanford LaSor award for excellence in Old Testament and Semitics, 1988
Selected by Old Testament and Semitic Language Faculty, Fuller Seminary
Summa Cum Laude, Northwest College, 1986
Highest GPA in Major and in Graduating class (4.0)
Delta Epsilon Chi, 1986
Selected by Faculty; Christian Academic Honor Society recognizing 'distinguished scholastic
achievement and approval of Christian character'