Dr. Sarah E. Rollens, associate professor and chair of religious studies, recently had a chapter published in Activism, Bible, and Research-Based Teaching: Practical Approaches for the Global Biblical Studies Classroom, edited by Dr. Johanna Stiebert (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2024). The chapter title is “Confronting Judeophobia in the Classroom,” and Rollens discusses her experience teaching undergraduate students about what she describes as the “ostensibly anti-Jewish rhetoric in the New Testament.”
According to Rollens, the chapter stresses the need to recognize how early Christian texts were embedded in ancient Judaism and to understand and appreciate the diversity of Judaism in the ancient context, as well as its ramifications for cultural discourse today, especially with the rise of different forms of religious prejudice in the United States.
Rollens regularly teaches in the Life program at Rhodes, which primarily serves first- and second-year students. “My students have consistently shown me that what we talk about in the classroom has real world consequences, and they always want to learn how to navigate these complex questions related to identity, ethnicity, and religion,” she said.