Eric Jarrard

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

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Department
Religious Studies
Jewish Studies

Scholar of Biblical Studies with a focus on the Hebrew Bible, its ancient Near Eastern context, and the history of its interpretation.

Eric Jarrard is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Wellesley College. He received his doctorate in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University, an MTS from Emory University, and his BA in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University.

His research employs social-scientific approaches to investigate how communities assign and negotiate meanings to the textual life cycles of the Hebrew Bible beginning with its ancient Near Eastern context and focusing specifically on late antiquity (c. 500 BCE – 200 CE) and contemporary American culture. His current book, The Exodus and Law in Monuments and Memory, enlists postcolonial theory to think about how ancient Middle Eastern monuments have shaped the way the Bible talks about history and law.

His research and courses also address the resonances of biblical themes within contemporary popular culture. Examples include: the use of horror theory to discuss the externalization of social anxieties as monsters in Jordan Peele’s Get Out and the book of Daniel, Jewish identity and biblical exposition in the films of Darren Aronofsky, the figure of Black Moses in Zora Neale Hurston and Alain Mabanckou's Petit Piment, and an investigation of the biblical deed-consequence nexus and Game of Thrones.

His research has been published in Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Biblical Interpretation, Vetus Testamentum, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and is forthcoming in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel. On the topic of the Bible and popular culture, Eric has a monograph, The Bible and Hip Hop, under contract with Lexington/Fortress Press, and chapter contributions to Theology and Game of Thrones (Lexington) and The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters.


His classes at Wellesley include:

Class NumberTitle
CPLT/REL 112YMonsters
JWST/REL 104Study of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
JWST/REL 106Queer Bible
JWST/REL 201Bible and Pop Culture [Topics]
JWST/REL 209Bible & Film
JWST/REL 344Gods of Stone: Monuments and the Sacred
JWST/REL 346Bible & Politics [Topics]
REL 101Intro to Religion
REL 111YFYS: Jesus of Nazareth
REL 345Seminar: Enslavement and the Bible

Education

  • B.A., Virginia Commonwealth University
  • M.Th., Emory University
  • Th.D., Harvard University

Current and upcoming courses

Seminar: Decolonizing the Bible

REL346

This seminar considers the difficult paradox of the Bible as both a tool for colonization and decolonization. We will frame this problem in three parts. First, we will engage post-colonial theory to interrogate the biblical text as a record of interaction with the various empires of the ancient Middle East, North Africa, and Mediterranean. Second, we will interrogate the Bible as a tool of empire and the European and colonial agenda, with a focus primarily on British, French, and Spanish despoliation of Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. Finally, we will explore the Bible as a tool for decolonization by engaging biblical interpretation by marginalized groups (womanist, mujerista, indigenous, and queer approaches). Our goal is to investigate the role of the Bible as a source of both harm and healing in the history of the world. (PEAC 346 and REL 346 are cross-listed courses.)

  • Seminar: Decolonizing the Bible

    REL346H

    This seminar considers the difficult paradox of the Bible as both a tool for colonization and decolonization. We will frame this problem in three parts. First, we will engage post-colonial theory to interrogate the biblical text as a record of interaction with the various empires of the ancient Middle East, North Africa, and Mediterranean. Second, we will interrogate the Bible as a tool of empire and the European and colonial agenda, with a focus primarily on British, French, and Spanish despoliation of Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. Finally, we will explore the Bible as a tool for decolonization by engaging biblical interpretation by marginalized groups (womanist, mujerista, indigenous, and queer approaches). Our goal is to investigate the role of the Bible as a source of both harm and healing in the history of the world. (PEAC 346H and REL 346H are cross-listed courses.)

  • The Bible & Film

    REL209

    This course explores the use of biblical stories and themes in cinema. We will begin with films based on selected biblical texts including the exodus, the book of Job, and Esther. We will focus our attention on the cinematic treatments of biblical themes: freedom and bondage, passing, and suffering. No previous knowledge of film or the Bible is assumed; the course offers an introduction to key modes of biblical interpretation including historical criticism, feminist, womanist, literary and comparative approaches. Films include Moonlight, Prince of Egypt, Inglourious Basterds, Passing, Harriet, Brokeback Mountain, Pariah, and Minari. (JWST 209 and REL 209 are cross-listed courses.)

  • The Bible & Film

    REL209H

    This course explores the use of biblical stories and themes in cinema. We will begin with films based on selected biblical texts including the exodus, the book of Job, and Esther. We will focus our attention on the cinematic treatments of biblical themes: freedom and bondage, passing, and suffering. No previous knowledge of film or the Bible is assumed; the course offers an introduction to key modes of biblical interpretation including historical criticism, feminist, womanist, literary and comparative approaches. Films include Moonlight, Prince of Egypt, Inglourious Basterds, Passing, Harriet, Brokeback Mountain, Pariah, and Minari. (JWST 209H and REL 209H are cross-listed courses.)