Fraatz CV

Education

Ph.D., Theology – Boston College, 2018
Dissertation: “‘Blessed is the One Who Reads and Those Who Hear the Words of Prophecy’: Rome and Revelation’s Use of Scripture”
Committee: Pheme Perkins (Director), John A. Darr, David S. Vanderhooft
Major: New Testament, Revelation, Matthew
Minor: Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Pentateuch
Additional Training: Apprenticeship in College Teaching (2018)

Th.M. – Boston College, 2009
Thesis: “Keeping Watch: The Narrative Function of the Parable of the Doorkeeper and Jesus’ Prayer at Gethsemane”
Committee: Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. (Director), Yonder M. Gillihan

M.Div. – Boston University, 2008
Specialized track in New Testament and Christian Origins

B.A., Classical Studies and Physics – Gettysburg College, 2005
Thesis: “Self-Reflection in Odyssey X and Aeneid I-IV”
Committee: Leslie Cahoon (Director)

Teaching Experience

Lecturer; Fellow at the Harris Center for Jewish Studies

University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, 2023 – present 

  • Proposed two new courses at the 100 and 200 level to support future major recruitment and retention of existing majors and minors
  • Instructor of record for 5500+ student credit hours, including large survey courses, small immersive seminars, and language instruction for majors and non-majors
  • Active member of department, contributing to discussions of non-major student outreach, major and minor retention, and building interdisciplinary connections with student body
  • Affiliated scholars with the Harris Center for Judaic Studies
  • Courses Taught
    • Greek 101 – Introduction to Ancient Greek
    • Classics 116 – Medical Greek and Latin
    • Classics 180 – Classical Mythology (ACE 5)
    • Classics 281 – World of Classical Greece
    • Religion/History 307 – Early Christianity
    • Religion/Global Studies 150 – Jesus: A Global History (ACE 5)
    • Religion 205 – Introduction to Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
    • Religion/History/Classics/Jewish Studies 331 – Ancient Israel
    • Religion/Women and Gender Studies/Jewish Studies 340 – Women in the Biblical World

 

Assistant Adjunct Professor

St. Lawrence University, First Year Program and Religious Studies Department, 2018 – 2021 

  • Served as instructor of record for 17 credit hours of classes in St. Lawrence’s First Year Program and Religious Studies department, ranging from introductory survey and electives to upper-division research seminars
  • Promoted through two rounds of performance-based reviews following evaluations by Associate Dean of the First Year Program, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and other faculty representatives
  • Teach and research on intersectionality, gender, race, imperialism/colonialism, anti-Semitism, mental health and other forms of bias, supported by St. Lawrence Raising Cultural Awareness program
  • Courses Taught
    • Religion 100 – Mystery and Meaning (An Introduction to Theory)
    • Religion 205 – Hebrew Bible: Plagues, Promises, and Prophecy
    • Religion 206 – New Testament: Gender, Race, and Authority in Early Christianity
    • Religion 3028 – Apocalyptic Literature and Power (200-level special topic seminar)
    • Religion 307 – Jesus and the Gospels: Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of Matthew (300-level seminar)
    • First Year Program 1020 – Use and Abuse of the Bible in American Politics
    • First Year Program 1055 – Myths and Monsters
    • First Year Program 1055 – Ancient Myths, Modern Narratives, and the Power to Construct Society
    • First Year Seminar 2121 – An Introduction to Jesus (cross-listed with Religious Studies)
    • First Year Seminar 2147 – The Bible in American Politics, 1850-Present (cross-listed with Religious Studies)
  • Service to the University
    • Twice received competitive professional development funds to develop and redesigned syllabi to reflect public speaking and joint public health-humanities initiatives to integrate curricular priorities
    • Serve as primary advisor to 75+ students, guiding them through course selection, major/minor discernment, and collegial communication skills
    • Engaged students with larger St. Lawrence community (Academic Advising, writing center, Mental Health, Advancement, Diversity and Inclusion, Student Retention) to facilitate whole-person approach to learning

 

Teaching Fellow (Instructor of Record)

Boston College, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, 2013-2014

  • Served as instructor of record for Boston College’s College of Arts and Sciences core theology requirements of two sequential courses
  • Developed digital humanities projects for introductory student research topics
  • Courses Taught
    • Biblical Heritage I (Hebrew Bible and Israelite Religion in its Ancient Near Eastern Context)
    • Biblical Heritage II (New Testament and Early Christianity in their Roman Imperial Context)

 

Teaching Assistant

Boston College, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, 2011-2013

  • Graded all written work and exams in accordance with departmental anti-grade inflation efforts
  • Liaised between the faculty professor and students, expressing areas of concern and student learning achievement 
  • Courses Assisted
    • Biblical Heritage I (Hebrew Bible and Israelite Religion in its Ancient Near Eastern Context)
    • Biblical Heritage II (New Testament and Early Christianity in their Roman Imperial Context)
    • Introduction to Christian Theology II (Great Works of Christian literature 100 BCE to 1962)

Publications

  • Co-Edited Volume: That God Might Be All in All: Essays in Honor of Pheme Perkins. In preparation for Paulist Press (Mahwah, NJ); co-edited with Kim Bauser McBrien, D. Clint Burnett, and Dieter T. Roth.
  • “Crowning Achievements: Stephanoi and Diademata in Revelation and the Catholic Old Testament.” In preparation for contribution to That God Might Be All in All: Essays in Honor of Pheme Perkins.  
  • “First Maccabees: A Reacting to the Past Instructors Manual” (Co-Authored with the Reacting to the Jewish Past group, Tel Aviv University) – in preparation
  • “The Council of Jerusalem: A Reacting to the Past Instructors Manual” (Co-Authored with the Reacting to the Jewish Past group, Tel Aviv University) – in preparation
  • Ongoing book project: Rome and Revelation’s Use of Scripture. 
  • Applying for Jobs and Internships as a College Student: An Open-Access Resource for Students, their Families, and Professionals, St. Lawrence University Center for Career Excellence (Online, 2023)
  • “Social Conflict Theory and Matthew’s Polemic against the Pharisees.” Pages 27-41 in Beyond Borders: Selected Proceedings of the 2010 Ancient Borderlands International Graduate Student Conference. University of California Press: 2013.

Digital Humanities Projects

Selected Reviews

  • Review of Stephen D. Moore, Untold Tales from the Book of Revelation: Sex and Gender, Empire and Ecology. Resources for Biblical Study, Atlanta: SBL Press, 2014. Religious Studies Review 45.1 (2019): 76.
  • Review of Die Johannesapokalypse: Kontext – Konzepte – Rezeption. Edited by Jörg Frey, James A. Kelhoffer, and Franz Tóth. WUNT 287. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. Religious Studies Review 39.3 (2013): 178.
  • Review of Jonathan D. H. Norton, Contours in the Text: Textual Variation in the Writings of Paul, Josephus, and the Yaḥad. LNTS 430. London: T & T Clark, 2011. Religious Studies Review 38.4 (2012): 239-40.
  • Review of Chris Keith, Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. LNTS 413; LHJS 8. New York, T & T Clark, 2011. Religious Studies Review 38.4 (2012): 237.

Awards and Grants

  • Presidential Rejuvenation Grant, St. Lawrence University (2022–2023)
  • Mellon Grant for Innovative Pedagogy (2020)
  • Hearst Foundation Grant (2020)
  • NEH Summer Seminar in Digital Humanities (2012)

Selected Presented Papers

  • 2023    “Revelation's Riddles: 666, Intertextuality, and John's Authority.” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Antonio, TX
  • 2020    “An Apocalyptic Method of Biblical Interpretation: Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and its Ancient Predecessors.” The Cold War and the End Times, The Center for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenial Movements, Cambridge, UK
  • 2017     Rome is Greater than Babylon: Neglected Allusions to Nineveh, Edom, and Sodom in Revelation 17–18” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, MA
  • 2017     “The Reapplication of Oracles against Babylon, Tyre, Nineveh, and Jerusalem in Revelation 17–18 and the Production of Prophetic Authority.” Between Heaven and Earth: Divination, Prophecy, and Oracles in the Ancient World, New Haven, CT
  • 2016    “Rebooted Scripture: Star Wars, Revelation, and the Aesthetics of Intertextuality.” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Antonio, TX
  •  “Encoding Apocalypse and Empire: Online Editions of Revelation 17:1–18:24 and 21:1–22:7 and the Display of Intertextual Allusions.” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego, CA
  • 2012    “Visualizing the Apocalypse: John’s Polemic against the Roman Empire.” Working with Text in a Digital Age.” NEH Institute for Advanced Topics in Digital Humanities, Medford, MA
  • 2011     “Why it Matters that Matthew was Written in an Urban Setting: Some Evidence from the Synagogue at Sardis.” New England Regional Society of Biblical Literature, Newton Centre, MA
  • 2010    “4QTest 21-30 and the Validation of the Covenanters’ Messianic Expectations.” New England Regional Society of Biblical Literature, Newton Centre, MA
  • 2009    “Sleeping through the Apocalypse: The Intratextual Relationship between Mark 13:32–37 and 14:32–42.” New England Regional Society of Biblical Literature, Newton Centre, MA

Higher Education Administrative Experience

Assistant Director of Career Exploration – St. Lawrence University (2021–present)
Course: Careers 251 – Introduction to the World of Work
Materials: Applying for Jobs and Internships…, YouTube Channel

Admissions Counselor, Academic Advisor, and Author – The Professor’s Companion, LLC (2013–present)

Graduate Research Assistant – Boston College, Boisi Center (2016–2017)

Director of Content and Curricula – Zinkerz (2014–2015)

Technical Skills and Languages

  • Languages: Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Latin (intermediate), German (reading), French (reading)
  • Platforms: Canvas, Sakai, Blackboard Vista, Microsoft Office, G Suite, Adobe CC, Corsava, Naviance, Starfish
  • Communication: Zoom, Skype, Teams, OBS, Discord, Slack