Melissa Ramos

Melissa Ramos (PhD, UCLA) is a Religion professor, ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), an equestrian, and a gardener.

Books

Ritual in Deuteronomy: The Performance of Doom (Routledge, 2021)

This volume explores the ritual world of Deuteronomy and its symbolic forms, focusing on the blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 27-30. 

New Perspectives on Ritual in the Biblical World (Bloomsbury/T & T Clark, in press)

A volume of collected essays that emphasize materiality and embodiment in the study of religious practices focusing especially on gender and the body, magic and ritual, and the textualization of ritual.

Jody Washburn

Jody Washburn (PhD, UCLA) is a professor, writer, musician, nature enthusiast, and life-long wonderer.

Her dissertation research focused on inscriptions in tombs in ancient Israel, and her work involves taking an integrative approach to artifacts from the ancient world.

Recently, Washburn has been part of a seminar group exploring theology in conversation with psychology, and her particular interests in this area include metaphor and theological humility, compassion and spirituality, and the neuroscience of trauma.  

Jody is passionate about facilitating spaces where people can engage with religious texts and ideas in conversation with their own stories and the stories of others. 

Follow her on Instagram @daretoriskdelight.

Jennifer Pantoja

Jennifer Pantoja (PhD, UCLA) is a writer, dancer, fervid reader, mother of 4, and dog lover.

Her research includes: Abrahamic religions, embodied living, habit formation, and the metaphors used to describe the divine in the Bible.

Book

The Metaphor of the Divine as Planter of the People (Brill 2017)

The book traces the emergence of the conceptual metaphor YHWH IS THE PLANTER OF THE PEOPLE in ancient Hebrew poetry and follows its development throughout biblical history and Second Temple literature, in order to illustrate how the deep connection to the land shaped ancient thought and belief.