Dr. Julia Watts. Belser

Education

• PhD, Jewish Studies, 2008, University of California, Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union
• MA, Rabbinic Studies & Rabbinic Ordination, 2007, Academy for Jewish Religion, California
• MDiv, Religion and Society, 2003, Starr King School, Graduate Theological Union
• BA, Religious Studies & Social Change, 1999, Cornell University

Teaching

• REL 751: Jewish Ecological Thought & Ethics
• REL 750: Basic Issues in the History of Judaism & Christianity: Late Antiquity
• REL 550/655: Midrash, Talmud, and the Jewish Bible
• REL 397: Religion & the Environment
• REL 396: Service Learning in Religious Studies
• REL 330: Judaism
• REL 210: Paths of World Religions

Research and professional interests

Julia Watts Belser studies Jewish culture in late antiquity, with a particular focus on rabbinic literature and the Talmud. Her work examines the intersection of religion and ecology, with an interest in Jewish environmental ethics and Jewish eco-theology. She brings feminist perspectives, queer studies and disability studies to the study of late ancient texts and contemporary culture.

Awards and honors