BIO & PROFESSIONAL INFO
Jennifer G Bird, PhD
An East Coaster by upbringing, undergrad, and graduate schools, Dr. Bird has taught in New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. She is currently embracing the title, "public biblical scholar," and you can follow her commentary and interview videos and her official co-hosted podcast at the links at the top of this site.
Her background within the United Methodist Church, education in a Presbyterian affiliated institution, more than a decade spent in several ministerial contexts, six years of graduate work in biblical studies, and more than 25 years of teaching in classrooms of all kinds all inform her approach to having quite honest, and sometimes difficult, conversations about what is actually to be found in the scriptures of the Christian Bible.
No question, her favorite conversations include
gender, sexuality, and marriage:
what the Bible does and does not say about them!
Education
BS Mathematics, Education Minor
Virginia Tech . 1994
Master of Divinity
Princeton Theological Seminary . 2001
​PhD, New Testament & Early Christianity
Vanderbilt University . 2007
Work Experience
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Visiting Assistant Professor , Hollins University
2021-2022
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Dr. Bird is thrilled to have the opportunity to step into this position at Hollins University! Her courses at HU include Religion in a Global Context, introductions to the primary Christian Testaments, Buddhism, Feminist/Womanist/Queer Theologies, and Bible in a Global Village.
Adjunct Assistant Professor . University of Portland
2014 - 2021
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The Theology Department has graciously welcomed Dr. Bird into their community. She teaches a regular schedule, every year, of several sections of the biblical introduction course and
an upper level hermeneutics course, "The Bible in a Global Village."
Part-Time Faculty . Portland Community College
2014 - present
Dr. Bird first started teaching Introduction to World Religions courses and has been at the center of developing the introduction courses on the two Christian testaments of the Bible.
Associate Professor of Religion . Greensboro College
2007 - 2013
Six years of incredible experiences teaching Honors and Biblical Studies Courses,
directing the Women's & Gender Studies Program,
and supporting students in their extracurricular endeavors.
It was her time in North Carolina that led Dr. Bird to "marriage in the Bible" as a scholarly focus.
Endorsements
"I managed to see the delightful, intelligent, and trail-blazing Dr Jennifer Bird speak tonight on the topic of sex and the Bible. Nothing I like more than a fresh perspective, an accepting and egalitarian approach to a very often exclusionary subject. Very impressive."
— Rachel Anderson Neu, Salem, Virginia
"Love, love, love reading her work. Makes even this old woman think about things differently."
— Barbara Boggs, Roanoke, Virginia