Religion
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Harold Van Broekhoven
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"To read is to interpret," remarks Peter Gomes (The Good Book 25ff.), and, as he notes in his popular introduction to the reading of the Bible, this involves an interpretive triangle of author, text, and reader. Harold Van Broekhoven's special interest in his study and in his teaching is the interpretation of the Bible (both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures) as the product of particular historical contexts and cultures, as a literary text, and as the object of contemplation and study by (multiple) interpretative communities. Given the Bible's power to generate new understandings and new communities as well as its usefulness as a tool employed by particular communities to legitimate existing cultural values, especially in the face of opposing or alternative values, the task of interpretation must be taken seriously even while done in a spirit of generosity and acknowledgment of the inconclusive nature of such interpretation.
With this in mind, Van Broekhoven regularly teaches the following courses: Religion 211 - an Introduction to the Bible, with special reference to its record of the formation of the Jewish and Christian communities; Religion 212 - an Introduction to the New Testament, with particular attention to the academic study of Jesus and Paul; Religion 308 - a topical course on "Family (Values) in the Bible"; Religion 300 - a seminar for Religion majors and minors titled "Reading Genesis." He also teaches Religion 213 - a survey of early Christian thought to 1000 C.E. Finally, he has regularly taught a course for First Year students introducing them to various approaches to the academic study of religion and focusing on the confrontation between "The Sacred and the Secular" ( FYS 102).
Van Broekhoven's own research interest has centered on the use of interpretive models for recovering the social worlds within which the Bible was written, as well as the use of classical rhetoric by the biblical writer. In addition, he has participated in archaeological digs in the Galilee, Israel. He has published studies on the Wisdom Tradition and on the New Testament Letter to the Colossians and is currently working on a commentary on Colossians.
The Religion Department encourages its majors to write Senior Research and Honors Projects. The following projects were among those directed (or co-directed) by Van Broekhoven in recent years:
"Ezekiel the Shaman"
"Christian People, Raise Your Voice: A Hymnology of Liberation"
"Towards a Framework for Doing Neopagan Theology"
"Diagnosis: Suffering from Metaphors; RX: The Sacred Answer"
"Puritan Sexual Ethics: A Reevaluation of Historical and literary Context"
"El Testimonio de Rigoberta Menchu: Sincretismo, Delegitimacion, y Liberacion en Guatemala"
"Goddess of Ten Thousand Names: Transformation of Isis"
"The Secularization of Message and Meaning in Contemporary Christian Television"
"The Catholic Dilemma: Can the Church Reclaim Sex from the Threat of Desacralization?"
The Religion Department also encourages its majors to do research in the summer under the Young Scholars and Woodyard Scholars programs. Among those summer projects done with Van Broekhoven have been the following:
"The Bible in the Political Realm: How Different Understandings of Scripture Influence Christian Debate Over Contemporary Issues"
"Responses to the Destruction of the Second Temple in Classical Rabbinic Literature"
"Saving Faith: Authenticity and the Religion of the Prophets"