Jodi Eichler-Levine is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. She received her B.A. summa cum laude in Near Eastern and Jewish Studies from Brandeis University (2000) and her M.A. (2004) and Ph.D. (2007) in Religion from Columbia University. Professor Eichler-Levine’s work has appeared in American Quarterly and she has presented papers at numerous academic meetings, including the Association for Jewish Studies and the American Academy of Religion. Her research interests include the complicated meeting of religion and children’s literature, the varying forms of contemporary American Jewish culture, and the intersection between material practice and religion. In her doctoral dissertation, “Memory’s Offspring: Uses of the Past in Jewish, Latter-day Saint, and African American Children’s Literature,” she examined how these three communities incorporate traumatic pasts in telling their stories as uniquely “chosen” Americans. Her two current works-in-progress are a revision of her dissertation work into a book manuscript and a new project on crafts and everyday religion.

At UW Oshkosh, Professor Eichler-Levine teaches courses in Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies. With the understanding that classes in both of these areas often touch upon particularly challenging themes, she advises that students be open to learning about new worldviews, which may at times be very different from their own. Professor Eichler-Levine is an avid Boston Red Sox fan. She also enjoys knitting, along with numerous other fiber arts, and adores Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and just about anything else by Joss Whedon).

 

CV (download)

[Positions] [Education] [Publications] [Conferences] [Teaching] [Service] [Languages] [Memberships]


 POSITIONS

University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, September 2007---

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies and Anthropology

  • 1/3 appointment with Women’s Studies Program


Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut

  • Visiting Instructor, Department of Religion, Spring 2007

 


EDUCATION

 

Columbia University, New York, New York

    • Ph.D., Religion, 2007

    • M.Phil., Religion, 2006

    • M.A., Religion, 2004

    • Doctoral Dissertation: “Memory’s Offspring: Uses of the Past in Jewish, Latter-day Saint, and African American Children’s Literature”

      • Sponsor: Randall Balmer

      • Dissertation Committee: Courtney Bender, Alan Segal, Henry Goldschmidt, Edward Blum


Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts

    • B.A., summa cum laude, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, 2000



PUBLICATIONS

 

“ ‘As Americans Against Genocide’: The Crisis in Darfur and Interreligious Political

Activism,” with Rosemary R. Hicks. American Quarterly 56:3 (September 2007),

711-735.

 

“Crossing National and Religious Boundaries.” (book review). Karen I. Leonard, Alex Stepick, Manuel 

A. Vasquez, and Jennifer Holdaway, eds., Immigrant Faiths: Transforming Religious Life in 

America for H-AMSTDY, H-net Reviews, March 2007

 

 

CONFERENCE PAPERS AND LECTURES

 

“Crafting into the Mysteries: Textile Spirituality and the Production of Domestic

Religion.” American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting

San Diego, California, November 19, 2007


“Crafting Into Many Mysteries: Materiality, Memory, and American Religion.”

American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association, Annual Meetings

Boston, Massachusetts, April 5, 2007


“Memories of Exodus in Jewish, African American, and Mormon Children’s Literature.”

Association for Jewish Studies, Annual Meeting

San Diego, California, December 18, 2006


“Imagining Mary Magdalene: The Discourse of the Hidden Past in Popular Culture.”

Society for Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting

Washington, D.C., November 19, 2006


“Exodus in Religious Children’s Literature.” University Seminar on Religion in America.

Columbia University, September 25, 2006


“Judaism: Through the Binding of Isaac.” Visiting lecture for “Narrative and Religious

Worlds of New York.” Columbia University Summer Program for High School

AStudents, July 6, 2006


“Maccabees and Memory: The Conflation of Hanukkah and the Holocaust in Jewish

Children’s Literature”

American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 20, 2005

 

“Hanukkah Heritage: Children’s Literature and the Construction of Jewish Identity.”

Under Construction: History, Identities, and Narrative in the Studies of Religion Columbia 

University, March 31, 2005

 

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 

Courses


University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Department of Religious Studies and Anthropology

    • RELSTDS 203-001C: Hebrew Bible

    • RELSTDS 334: Holocaust and American Memory

    • RELSTDS 395-004C: American Judaism

    • RELSTDS 395: Judaism Since Gender (cross-listed,Women’s Studies)

    • RELSTDS 395: Judaism and Graphic Novels

University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Women’s Studies Program

  • WMSTDS 201: Introduction to Women’s Studies

Wesleyan University, Department of Religion

  • RELI 483: American Religions Through Children’s Media (cross-listed as AMST 304), Spring 2007


Columbia University, University Writing Program

  • English C1010: University Writing, Fall 2006

 

Courses Assisted


Columbia University, Department of Religion

Teaching Fellow, 2002-2005

    • Evangelicalism, Professor Randall Balmer, Fall 2005

    • Religion and American Culture II, Professor Randall Balmer, Spring 2005

    • Religion and Its Critics, Professor Wayne Proudfoot, Spring 2004

    • Self and Society in Asian Religions, Professor Wendi Adamek, Fall 2003

    • Judaism in the Time of Jesus, Professor Celia Deutsch, Spring 2003

    • Early Christianity, Professor Elizabeth Castelli, Fall 2002


Teaching Development


Teaching the Great Books: Philosophy/Practicum

  • Professor Elizabeth Scharffenberger, Columbia University. Three-week course on pedagogical strategies for teaching “Great Books” courses, modeled on the Columbia Core Curriculum, June 2005


Teaching Writing: Theory and Practice

  • Professors Joseph Bizup and Nicole Wallack, Columbia University. Preparation and continuing development for instructorship in University Writing Program, Spring–Fall 2006.


 

SERVICE ACTIVITIES

 

University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

 

Advisor, Religious Studies Club, 2007-

Steering Committee, Women’s Studies Program, 2007-

Curriculum Review, Department of Religious Studies, 2007-2008

Reviewer, The Oshkosh Scholar (Undergraduate Research Journal), 2007

Lecture, “Crafting Into Many Mysteries,” Women’s Studies Brown Bag, October 3, 2007


Previous Departmental Service

 

Conference Committee Organizer, Graduate Student Conference

Re-Stating Religion: A Conference Reconsidering the Rules

Columbia University, March 23-24, 2006

 

Conference Committee Organizer, Graduate Student Conference

Under Construction: History, Identities and Narrative in the Studies of Religion

Columbia University, March 31-April 1, 2005


Brandeis University, Religious Studies Program, curriculum development, 2000

 

 

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Reading knowledge: French, German, Hebrew (Biblical, Modern)

Working knowledge: Greek (Attic, Koiné), Latin

 

 

AWARDS, GRANTS, AND FELLOWSHIPS

 

Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

  • Summer Research Fellowship, 2005, 2006

Brandeis University:

  • Phi Beta Kappa, 2000

  • Shapiro Family Prize in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, 2000

  • Spinoza Prize in the History of Ideas, 2000

  • Schiff Undergraduate Fellow, 1998-1999

  • Rabb Scholarship, 1996-2000

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

 

American Academy of Religion

American Studies Association

Association for Jewish Studies

Society of Biblical Literature