I’m a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and an assistant professor at the University of Houston, teaching in Religious Studies and Jewish Studies. I love teaching, writing, and speaking about the Bible. (If you meet me at a party, you will likely get your ear talked off about biblical literature!) My research interests include women in the Bible, Second Temple literature, and feminist and queer biblical interpretation.

I received my B.A. in Communications, with a minor in Women’s Studies, from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. I earned my M.A. in Jewish Studies, with a concentration in Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, from the Baltimore Hebrew Institute (now affiliated with Towson University) in 2010. My Ph.D. is from Vanderbilt University‘s Graduate Department of Religion in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, with a minor in the Ancient Near East and a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies.

I am proud to be the director of the Jewish Studies program at UH, one of the most diverse universities in the United States.

Before I was a biblical scholar, I was a newspaper reporter. Those two careers might sound pretty different, but I find that the skills I learned as a journalist make me a better scholar, writer, and teacher. I thrive on deadlines, I write clearly and with style, and I know how to explain complicated subjects without sacrificing accuracy or nuance.

You can view my CV here.