Department Faculty

"I am most interested in the social and political processes that led to the birth and the socialization of properties characterizing or at least prized by Western culture in antiquity, such as natural science and monotheism, but including individuation, constitutional theory and the concept of the rule of law, and reformationist thought. Sometimes in pursuit of this end, my research has focused on the archaeology, history, literature and general culture of ancient Israel in its interaction with Near Eastern and Mediterranean trading partners in the Iron Age (but other things keep cropping up). Current projects include a few archaeological enterprises involving subjects such as identity formation, or deforestation; books on the history of Biblical Israel, the birth of western civilization in relation to the development of science, and Biblical books. I ask students to engage with primary sources, always, and enjoy fostering their involvement with hands-on activities in language, archaeology or scientific analysis."