Rebecca Denova

Fields

Hellenistic Judaism, the historical Jesus, Gospels, Paul, Jewish-Christian relations in antiquity, Ancient Egyptian religions, Greco-Roman culture and religions, women in early Judaism and early Christianity, Gnosticism, Biblical literary-criticism, and textual studies.

Teaching

Origins of Christianity and the New Testament, Varieties of Early Christianity, Construction of Evil in the Western Tradition, Death in the Name of God: Martyrs and Martyrdom, Religions of Ancient Egypt, Greco-Roman Religions, Dualism in the Ancient World, Body and Society in Late Antiquity, Death in the Mediterranean World, and other thematic courses on aspects of world religions and the evolution of ancient religious concepts and their modern counterparts.

Community Service

Rebecca Denova has lectured frequently in the Pittsburgh area, for synagogue and interfaith communities. She has offered courses for the Academy of Lifelong Learning, the American-Jewish Committee, the Jewish Education Institute, Mount Lebanon Public Library, and the Osher Program at the University of Pittsburgh. She helped to organize a city-wide conference on Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and has been a frequent contributor for book reviews on religion for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Her previous teaching experience includes eight years as an associate professor (tenured) at Bethany College in West Virginia. She taught at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and as a visiting professor at Boston University.

Travel Experience

Dr. Denova has spent several summer research projects in Jerusalem, Rome, ancient Ostia, studying Etruscan hill towns and cemeteries, Pompeii and Herculaneum, a Fulbright Scholar program in Egypt, and taught courses on Semester at Sea. Dr. Denova served as a supplemental lecturer for “The Wonders of Egypt” trip from February 26 to March 11, 2019, for 34 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute participants.