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Christine Shepardson

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Tina Shepardson studies the history of Early Christianity, particularly the Mediterranean world in the period of late antiquity. Her first book, Anti-Judaism and Christian Orthodoxy: Ephrem's Hymns in Fourth-Century Syria (forthcoming 2008), examines Ephrem, a fourth-century church leader from Syria, and the role his sharp anti-Jewish language played in an intra-Christian theological struggle. She is currently writing a new book about how the politics of controlling contested places in and around the city of Antioch helped shape the theological debates of the fourth and fifth centuries. In teaching about the history of early Christianity, she demonstrates the effects that early Christian arguments continue to have in the modern world, as well as the rich diversity of early Christian history. Each year she presents her work at academic conferences and also around the Knoxville area. When not researching, writing, and teaching, she may be found hiking in the Smokies or canoeing in the Canadian arctic.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Early Christianity, Duke University, Graduate Program in Religion, 2003
  • Graduate Certificate, Program in Women's Studies, Duke University, 1998
  • M.T.S. in Biblical Studies, Boston University School of Theology, 1996
  • B.A. in Religion and English, Swarthmore College, 1994

Fields of Interest

  • Early Christianity (with particular interests in Christian-Jewish relations, Christian anti-Jewish rhetoric, issues of orthodoxy and heresy, and women in early Christianity)
  • History of Christianity
  • New Testament
  • Second-Temple Judaism
  • Greco-Roman Religions
  • History of Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism
  • Gender Studies

Current Courses

  • RS/Hist 322 (Christianity in Late Antiquity); RS 425/532 (Sexuality and Gender in Early Christianity); UH 100 (Sex or Celibacy: An Early Christian Controversy)

Spring 08

  • RS/Hist 321 (Introduction to the New Testament); RS 401 (Texts and the Study of Texts); FYS 129 (Karate: History, Philosophy, Practice)
Christine Shepardson

Contact Information

Christine Shepardson
Assistant Professor
515 McClung Tower
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0450

Phone: 865-974-2181
Email: cshepard@utk.edu