Dr. Julye Bidmead

Dr. Julye Bidmead (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) is the Director of the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs and an Associate Professor of Religious Studies in Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science. She received a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Method and Theory of Religion. Prior to joining Chapman University in 2007, she held faculty positions at Miami University (OH), James Madison University, and California State University, Fresno. Dr. Bidmead teaches classes in Religious Studies, First Year Foundation (FFC), and the University Honors Program. She has won several teaching awards including the Valerie Scudder Award and Pedagogical Innovative Award. Dr. Bidmead's publications include The Akitu Festival: Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia (Gorgias Press, 2004), Invest Your Humanity (Pickwick, 2016), and numerous articles on Near Eastern religion, ritual studies, and gender. Her most recent research project, Recovering Women's Rituals in the Ancient Near East (Equinox Press), explores women's religious roles and rites of passage in ancient Israel, Mesopotamia, and Canaan. Dr. Bidmead is currently the Education Director and field archaeologist on the Jezreel Expedition, where she spends her summers excavating the world of the ancient Israelites.

Teaching/Professional Experience

• Chapman University, Orange Ca, Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, 2007-present
• Miami University, Oxford, OH, Assistant Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Department of Comparative Religion/Jewish Studies, 2004-2007
• Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, PA, Adjunct Faculty, 2001-2004
• James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Department of Philosophy and religion, 2003-2004
• California State University, Fresno, CA, Visiting Lecturer, Religious Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religion, 2001-2003; Smittcamp Honors College Faculty, Spring 2003; Extended Education Faculty, Spring 2003
• Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, Graduate Student Instructor, 1997-1998, Teaching Assistant, 1996-1997
• Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN, Bibliographer and Collection Development, 1996-1999

Areas of Teaching Competence:

• Primary: Hebrew Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Biblical Archaeology, Theory of Religion
• Secondary: Women and Gender in Religion, Myth and Ritual, Judaism

Articles:

• "Shrine," "Rosh Ha-Shanah," "Fable" in New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Katherine Dobb Sakenfield, Samuel Balentine, eds. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2009.
• Lahav Research Project/Tel Halif, Field Reports, 2007 Season. Emory University, 2008.
• "Syro-Palestinian Archaeology." in Eerdmans Biblical Commentary, John Rogerson and James D. G. Dunn, eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eardmans Publishing, 2004.
• "New Year's Celebrations." in Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals, Frank Salamone, ed. Religion and Society 6. Great Barrington, M.A: Bershire/Routledge Press, 2004.
• "New Year", "Wizard/Medium","Ishtar","Assur (Deity)", "Nisroch","Lot Casting in the Bible" in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman and Allen C. Myers, eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000.
• "Pedagogy and Archaeology: How Students 'Dig' the Web." Shofar: An interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 17/4 Summer 1999.

Professional Organizations:

• American Academy of Religion
• American Institute of Archaeology
• Society of Biblical Literature

Archaeological Experience and Fieldwork:

• Megiddo Expedition, Israel (Tel Aviv University), Senior Staff, 1996-Present
• Tel Halif/Lahav Research Project IV, Senior Staff, 2006-2007
• Megiddo Survey, Northern Jezreel Valley, Israel, 1999
• Tel el-Farah (S) Expedition Israel (Ben Gurion and Claremont University), 1999
• Tel Rehov Excavation, Israel (Hebrew University, Jerusalem), 1997
• American Schools of Oriental Research, Outreach Program Archaeologist (online resource), 1999-present

About the Megiddo Expedition