Amy Meverden

I was born in Lisbon, Portugal into a Fundamentalist Baptist missionary/pastor's family. As the only girl with three brothers, it was not expected that I would enter into academia (or particularly into the field of religious studies), but I excelled in school and displayed gifts of teaching and leadership in the church early on, beginning with teaching four-year-old Sunday School in fifth grade and leading into my role as a Middle School Youth Minister in college.

My undergraduate Old Testament professor changed my life when he taught me how to think critically about the Bible, specifically the texts that I had been taught excluded women from participation as equals in society and the church. He encouraged me to pursue Master's work and I completed the M.Div. and M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature at Fuller Theological Seminary, then the M.A. at NYU in the Draper School of Humanities and Social Thought, focusing on critical theory, postcolonial/feminist studies, and Hebrew Bible. My initial academic emphasis in biblical studies was Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, but I ended up rounding out my academic tenure with a PhD that focuses on both Hebrew Bible and New Testament. My dissertation looks at the intersection of the biblical text with imperial iconography, along with themes regarding power and ecological considerations.

Education

  • B.S. in Religious Studies, Colorado Christian University
  • M.Div. in Fuller Theological Seminary, New York University
  • M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature, New York University 
  • M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought, New York University
  • Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

Courses Taught

  • RELS 300–61 - Religion, Ecology, and Food Studies
  • Research
    • specialization is in visual exegesis, which is the interdisciplinary approach to biblical studies through images, specifically imperial iconography
    • Work with both the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the New Testament
    • How scholarly discussions of the Bible impact the world
    • Ecology
  • Publications and Scholarly Activities

    ARTICLES:

    • "Ebal, Eber, Ehi, Eldaah," The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, 2014.
    • "Daughter Zion as Homo Sacer: The Relationship of Exile, Lamentations, and Giorgio Agamben's Bare Life Figure" in Interpreting Exile: Displacement, and Deportation in Biblical and Modern Contexts. Edited by B. Kelle, F.R. Ames, and J. Wright. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011.


    BOOK REVIEWS:

    • Review of Lamentations in Ancient and Contemporary Cultural Contexts, eds. N. Lee and C. Mandolfo. Religious Studies Review 37, no. 1 (March 2011): 47.
    • Review of I am…Biblical Women Tell Their Own Stories, by Athalya Brenner. The Biblical Historian.


    ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS:

    • “Imperial Greenery: Biblical Text Counter-Images of the Sacred Tree as an Eco-Critical Re-Imagination,” Society of Biblical Literature, November 2015
    • "Job and The Cross and the Lynching Tree," Future of Liberation Theologies Conference, February 2012
    • Guest Respondent to Walter Brueggemann, Reading Scripture through Other Eyes: Trinity Institute’s 41st National Theological Conference, Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church, NYC, January 2011
    • “The Pîlegeš of Judges 19 as Subaltern and Homo Sacer,” Society of Biblical Literature, November 2009
    • “Anat and Deborah: Comparisons of Female Warriors,” Society of Biblical Literature, November 2008
    • “A Diachronic Survey of Divine Warrioress Imagery in the Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age I, and Second Temple Period: A Comparison of Anat and Deborah,” WECSOR, March 2008
    • “Postcolonial Feminist Hermeneutics and the Old Testament,” Old Testament Colloquium, Fuller Theological Seminary, October 2006

     

  • Professional Experience and Memberships
    • Rapporteur, Columbia New Testament Seminar, Columbia University, 2014–2015
    • Member, Society of Biblical Literature
    • Student Representative, Search Committee, D. Wilson Moore Chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2007
    • Women’s Concerns Committee Chair, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2006–2007
  • Honors, Awards, and Grants
    • Grant Recipient, Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, Berlin, Summer 2011
    • W.S. LaSor Prize for Outstanding Graduate in OT and Semitic Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2006–2007