Department of Interdisciplinary Studies

I study biblical literature, religion, and society in light of modern literary theory and philosophy. I'm currently writing a book on Ecclesiastes and the history of its use and influence. My research focuses on the Bible's wisdom literature and its reception, but I have published widely on a range of topics such as the concept of sovereignty in the stories about Elisha, feminist biblical interpretation, and the shifting boundaries delimiting religion in the history of biblical interpretation. My first book, published in 2015, demonstrates why the book of Job is an important philosophical voice on contemporary concerns such as the limits and possibilities of desire, subjectivity, ideology, ontology, and ethics. I regularly teach surveys of the Old and New Testaments, plus courses on Gender and Sexuality, Prophecy and Justice, and Literary Theory and Cultural Studies.

Website: https://philrel.appstate.edu/hankins