I teach Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern textual traditions with courses ranging from biblical studies to the religions and literatures of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, and Israel, including Second Temple Judaism. My research involves the overlaps between rhetoric, ritual and scriptures. An assignment to write a large commentary on Leviticus has me focused on very detailed texts in their ancient Near Eastern and later Jewish and Christian contexts, while the Iconic Books Project provides a vehicle for considering the functions of scriptures from cross-cultural and trans-historical perspectives.

Watts' Courses -- Education & Career -- Publications -- CV -- Iconic Books Project -- SCRIPT

REL/JSP 114 The Bible
REL/JSP 215 The Hebrew Bible
REL 301 Ancient Near Eastern Religions and Cultures
REL/JSP 302 The Temple & the Dead Sea Scrolls
REL/JSP 311 The Bible As Literature
REL/JSP 416/616 The Torah/Pentateuch
REL 607 Ancient Religious Rhetoric
REL 611 The Idea of Scripture
REL/ANT 619 Ritual Theory and Religious Practice
REL 622 Sacrifice

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Yale University, 1990
• Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.) in New Testament, Southern Seminary, 1985, 1986 
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy, Pomona College, 1982 

• Professor, Syracuse University, 2007-present
  • William P. Tolley Teaching Professor in the Humanities 2011-2013
  • Chair, SU Department of Religion, 2009-present
  • Director of Graduate Studies, SU Department of Religion, 2006-2009
• Associate Professor, Syracuse University, 1999-2007
  • Undergraduate Coordinator, SU Department of Religion, 2000-2004
  • Director, SU Religion & Society Program, 2002-2004
• Chair, Pentateuch Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, 1998-2003 
• Associate Professor, Hastings College, 1998-1999
• Assistant Professor, Hastings College, 1993-1998
• Adjunct, Stetson University, Barry University, Valencia Community College 1991-1993
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Stetson University, 1990-1991
• Instructor, Yale Divinity School, 1989

Publications:
Books

	Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. (two RBL reviews)
	Reading Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch, Biblical Seminar 59, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.  (RBL review)
	Psalm and Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narrative, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 139, Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992.
	(Editor with Corrine Patton and Steven Cook) The Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse, JSOTSup Series 336, London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.
	(Editor) Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch SBL Symposium Series, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. (RBL review)
	(Editor with Paul R. House) Forming Prophetic Literature: Essays on Isaiah and the Twelve in Honor of John D. W. Watts, JSOTSup Series 235, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.

Articles on Pentateuch, Iconic Books both Ancient and Contemporary, Comparative Rhetoric, Inset Poetry, and other topics:

Pentateuch:

• "Using Ezra's Time as a Methodological Pivot for Understanding the Rhetoric and Functions of the Pentateuch," in The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research (ed. T. B. Dozeman, K. Schmid and B. J. Schwarz; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 489-506.
• “Ritual Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority,” Journal of Biblical Literature 124/3 (2005): 401-417.
• “The Torah as the Rhetoric of Priesthood,” in The Reception of the Torah in the Second Temple Period, ed. Bernard Levinson and Gary Knoppers. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2007. 319-332.
• "Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical Literature 130 (2011): 417-30.
• “Ritual Rhetoric in the Pentateuch: The Case of Leviticus 1-16,” in Colloquium Biblicaum Lovaniense 2006: Leviticus and Numbers, ed. Thomas Römer, Beitrage zum Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses, Leuven: Peeters, 2008. 305-18.
• “The Rhetoric of Ritual Instruction in Leviticus 1-7,” in The Book of Leviticus: Composition and Reception, ed. Rolf Rendtorff and Robert Kugler, Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series, Leiden: Brill, 2003. 79-100.
• “ ‘Olah: The Rhetoric of Burnt Offerings,” Vetus Testamentum 66/1 (2006): 125-137.
• "Rhetorical Strategy in the Composition of the Pentateuch," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 68 (1995) 3-22.
• "Public Readings and Pentateuchal Law," Vetus Testamentum 45/4 (1995) 540-57.
• "The Legal Characterization of God in the Pentateuch," Hebrew Union College Annual 67 (1996) 1-14. 
• "The Legal Characterization of Moses in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical Literature 117 (1998) 415-26.
• "Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Biblical Interpretation 7/1 (1999) 101-12.
• "Legal Literature,” in The New Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Nashville: Abingdon, 2010, 953-55.
• “Torah,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 5. Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
• "Leviticus," Mercer Commentary on the Bible , ed. Watson E. Mills et al, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1994, pp. 157-74.  Reprinted in Mercer Commentary on the Bible, Vol. 1: Pentateuch/Torah, ed. Watson E. Mills et al, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1998.

Ancient iconic books:

• “The Political and Legal Uses of Scripture,” in The New Cambridge History of the Bible, vol. 1, ed. Joachim Schaper and James Carleton Paget, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
• “Ancient Iconic Texts and Scholarly Expertise,” Postscripts 6 (2010): forthcoming in 2011.
• "Using Ezra's Time as a Methodological Pivot for Understanding the Rhetoric and Functions of the Pentateuch," in The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research (ed. T. B. Dozeman, K. Schmid and B. J. Schwarz; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 489-506.

Contemporary iconic books:

• "Why Books Matter," The Iconic Books Blog, February 20, 2010.
• “The Three Dimensions of Scriptures,” Postscripts 2/2 (2006/2008), 135-159.
• “Desecrating Scriptures,” a case study for the Luce Project in Religion, Media and International Relations at Syracuse University, 2009.
• “Ten Commandments Monuments and the Rivalry of Iconic Texts,” Journal of Religion & Society 6 (2004) online.
• “Disposing of Non-Disposable Texts,” in The Death of Sacred Texts: Ritual Disposal and Renovation of Texts in the World Religions, ed. Kristina Myrvold. Fahrnam: Ashgate, 2010. 147-59.
• “Books as Relics in Dialogue with D. Max Moerman,” The Religion and Culture Web Forum of the Martin Marty Center for the Study of Religion, University of Chicago Divinity School, March, 2011.

Comparative rhetoric:

• “Ritual Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority,” Journal of Biblical Literature 124/3 (2005): 401-417.
• "Ritual Rhetoric in Ancient Near Eastern Texts," in Ancient Non-Greek Rhetorics, ed. Carol Lipson and Roberta Binckley, West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2009. 39-66.
• “Story, List, Sanction: A Cross-Cultural Strategy of Ancient Persuasion,” in Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks, ed. Carol Lipson and Roberta Binkley, Albany: SUNY Press, 2004. 197-212.
• "Oracular Rhetoric," Perspectives in Religious Studies 35 (2008): 185-95.

Inset psalmody:

• “Biblical Psalms Outside the Psalter,” in The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, ed. Peter W. Flint and Patrick D. Miller, Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series, Leiden: Brill, 2004. 87-101.
• “Poetry, Inset,” in the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, ed. Bill T. Arnold and H. G. M. Williamson, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005. 798-802. 
• "`This Song': Conspicuous Poetry in Hebrew Prose," Verse in Ancient Near Eastern Prose, ed. Johannes C. de Moor and Wilfred G. E. Watson, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 42, Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1993, pp. 345-58.
• "Song and the Ancient Reader," Perspectives in Religious Studies 22/2 (1995) 135-47.
• "Psalmody in Prophecy: Habakkuk 3 in Context," Forming Prophetic Literature (see above), pp. 209-223.

Other topics:

• “The Unreliable Narrator of Job,” in The Whirlwind (see books above), pp. 168-80.
• "Text and Redaction in Jeremiah's Oracles Against the Nations," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 54 (1992) 432-47.
• "HNT: An Ugaritic Formula of Intercession," Ugarit-Forschungen 21 (1989) 443-49.
• "Psalm 2 in the Context of Biblical Theology," Horizons in Biblical Theology 12/1 (1990) 73-91.
• "The Remnant Theme: A Survey of New Testament Research, 1921-1987," Perspectives in Religious Studies 15/2 (1988) 109-129.
• "Narrative Time in Luke's Gospel," Paradigms 1/2 (1985) 65-80.
• (Translator)  “Persian Imperial Authorization: A Summary” by Peter Frei, in Persia and Torah (see books above), pp. 5-40.

Book Reviews:

• Review of Biblical Literature (2008), (2008), (2007), (2007), (2006), (2003), (1999)
• Religion 41 (2011) 105-107, 39 (2009) 300-302.
• Biblica 91 (2011) 595-98.
• The Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001) 348 [= RBL 2000 online] , 118 (1999) 128-28 [= RBL 1999 online] , 116 (1997) 541-43 [= RBL 1997 online]
• Interpretation 65 (2011) 91-92, 61 (2007) 98.
• Horizons in Biblical Theology 24/1 (2002) 129-31
• Jewish Quarterly Review 91/3-4 (2001) 526-29
• Theology Today 55 (1999) 586-88
• Hebrew Studies 39 (1998) 236-38, 37 (1996) 166-68
• Perspectives in Religious Studies 23 (1996) 75-86, 22 (1995) 87-91
• Religious Studies Review 23 (1997) 388, 24 (1998) 59, 283-284, 405, 25 (1999) 71
• Paradigms 1 (1985) 50-52, 118-20, 2 (1986) 136-37, 5 (1989) 68-69, 156-57