Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish History and Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Faculty
Dr. Ashley London Bacchi received her doctorate in Jewish History and Culture at the Graduate Theological Union in May 2015. She is originally from New York and received her BA in Classics with a double minor in Art History and Philosophy from Hartwick College. She moved to California in 2005 to get a post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Classics from UC Davis before moving to Berkeley for her Masters at the GTU and SKSM in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, focusing on Jewish and Christian Traditions. A primary focus of her scholarship centers on women and power in the literary and material culture of the Hellenistic world to offer counter narratives to uncontested male dominance in Hellenistic literature and culture. This work contributes to feminist historical discourse on issues that have obscured the perception of women and power today such as women’s ordination, women’s reproductive rights, and gender diversity in political leadership.
Ashley has dedicated herself to an interdisciplinary approach to Ancient Mediterranean religions and culture to break down oppressive models that enforce simplistic dichotomies and hierarchies.
Her work contextualizes texts that have been used to marginalize and oppress people through the normalization and naturalization of systems of oppressions. Her work exposes these systems as constructs by raising up silenced voices and traditions that complicate narratives and destabilize the meta-narrative concerning gender and sexuality.
Ashley has presented at conferences across the US and Europe and published in the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture, and has a forthcoming entry in the Shlavi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Her forthcoming book, Uncovering Jewish Creativity: Gender, Intertextuality, & Politics in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles represents her background in Feminist and Literary Theory, Art History & Archaeology, and Ancient Mediterranean History.
Ashley is proud to be a part of the SKSM community which embodies active social leadership and transformation through open dialogue, acceptance, and exploration. She lives in Eureka California with her husband the Rev. Dr. Daniel London, the rector of Christ Episcopal Church. She also teaches Intro to Hebrew Bible for the Episcopal School for Deacons, as well as Adult Ed courses. In addition to her academic work, she is an active leader of True North Organizing Network and a ceramics artist. You can learn more about her work here: https://sksm.academia.edu/AshleyBacchiPhD
