Dr. Julye Bidmead

Dr. Julye Bidmead

Associate Professor, Director, Center for Undergraduate Excellence
Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Department of Religious Studies
Office Location: Smith Hall 101E
Office Hours: M/W/F 10:00am - 11:00am
Phone: (714) 532-7709
Scholarly Works:
Digital Commons
Education:
California State University, Eastbay, Bachelor of Arts
Vanderbilt University, Master of Arts
Vanderbilt University, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Julye Bidmead (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) is the Director of the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs and an Associate Professor of Religious Studies in Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science. She received a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Method and Theory of Religion. Prior to joining Chapman University in 2007, she held faculty positions at Miami University (OH), James Madison University, and California State University, Fresno. Dr. Bidmead teaches classes in Religious Studies, First Year Foundation (FFC), and the University Honors Program. She has won several teaching awards including the Valerie Scudder Award and Pedagogical Innovative Award. Dr. Bidmead's publications include The Akitu Festival: Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia (Gorgias Press, 2004), Invest Your Humanity (Pickwick, 2016), and numerous articles on Near Eastern religion, ritual studies, and gender. Her most recent research project, Recovering Women's Rituals in the Ancient Near East (Equinox Press), explores women's religious roles and rites of passage in ancient Israel, Mesopotamia, and Canaan. Dr. Bidmead is currently the Education Director and field archaeologist on the Jezreel Expedition, where she spends her summers excavating the world of the ancient Israelites.

Teaching/Professional Experience

  • Chapman University, Orange Ca, Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, 2007-present
  • Miami University, Oxford, OH, Assistant Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Department of Comparative Religion/Jewish Studies, 2004-2007
  • Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, PA, Adjunct Faculty, 2001-2004
  • James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Department of Philosophy and religion, 2003-2004
  • California State University, Fresno, CA, Visiting Lecturer, Religious Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religion, 2001-2003; Smittcamp Honors College Faculty, Spring 2003; Extended Education Faculty, Spring 2003
  • Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, Graduate Student Instructor, 1997-1998, Teaching Assistant, 1996-1997
  • Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN, Bibliographer and Collection Development, 1996-1999

Areas of Teaching Competence:

  • Primary: Hebrew Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Biblical Archaeology, Theory of Religion
  • Secondary: Women and Gender in Religion, Myth and Ritual, Judaism

Articles:

  • "Shrine," "Rosh Ha-Shanah," "Fable" in New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Katherine Dobb Sakenfield, Samuel Balentine, eds. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2009.
  • Lahav Research Project/Tel Halif, Field Reports, 2007 Season. Emory University, 2008.
  • "Syro-Palestinian Archaeology." in Eerdmans Biblical Commentary, John Rogerson and James D. G. Dunn, eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eardmans Publishing, 2004.
  • "New Year's Celebrations." in Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals, Frank Salamone, ed. Religion and Society 6. Great Barrington, M.A: Bershire/Routledge Press, 2004.
  • "New Year", "Wizard/Medium","Ishtar","Assur (Deity)", "Nisroch","Lot Casting in the Bible" in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman and Allen C. Myers, eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000.
  • "Pedagogy and Archaeology: How Students 'Dig' the Web." Shofar: An interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 17/4 Summer 1999.

Professional Organizations:

  • American Academy of Religion
  • American Institute of Archaeology
  • Society of Biblical Literature

Archaeological Experience and Fieldwork:

  • Megiddo Expedition, Israel (Tel Aviv University), Senior Staff, 1996-Present
  • Tel Halif/Lahav Research Project IV, Senior Staff, 2006-2007
  • Megiddo Survey, Northern Jezreel Valley, Israel, 1999
  • Tel el-Farah (S) Expedition Israel (Ben Gurion and Claremont University), 1999
  • Tel Rehov Excavation, Israel (Hebrew University, Jerusalem), 1997
  • American Schools of Oriental Research, Outreach Program Archaeologist (online resource), 1999-present

About the Megiddo Expedition

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

“An Assyrian Palace in Los Angeles.” Nineveh 47. 2 (2022): 5-9.
A Short History of the Assyrian-themed Citadel Outlet Mall.” Assyrian Studies Association Newsletter. (April/May 2022): 7-9.
Women, Water, and Walkways: Preliminary Findings from the Jezreel Expedition in Light of Biblical & Archaeoethnographic Evidence." With Deborah Appler and Marilyn Love. The Woman in the Pith Helmet: A Tribute to Archaeologist Norma Franklin. Eedited by Jennie Ebeling and Philippe Guillaume. (Atlanta, Lockwood Press, 2020) 1-17.
"Liminality and Reversals in the Mesopotamian Netherworld: Ishtar’s Descent and Funeral Rituals." ARAM 32:1&2 (2020) Afterlife, Funerary Beliefs and Ceremonies, and Cemeteries in the Near East before 8th Century A.D. Oxford University Press,325-338.
"Southeast Asia: Iran.” With Jenny Redish in Seshat History of the Axial Age. Edited by Daniel Hoyer and Jenny Reddish. Chaplin, CT: Beresta Books, 2019. 115-144.
“Oral Session Reports 6: Politics”, forsch! – Studentisches Online-Journal der Universität Oldenburg X/20XX. Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress on Undergraduate Research (World CUR 2019), 1.
“Ishtar’s Journey: Above and Below.” with Marilyn Love. Culture and Cosmos, Vol. 22 No. 1 Spring/Summer 2018 University of Wales, Trinity Saint David Press, (2018): 5-28.
“Gendered Gifts: Women’s Religious Offerings in the Mesopotamia and the Levant.” Aram 29, Oxford University Press (2017).
“Quantitative historical analysis uncovers a single dimension of complexity that structures global variation in human social organization.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 115 no. 2. Published online December 21, 2017. With Peter Turchin, Thomas E. Currie, Harvey Whitehouse, et. al.
Invest Your Humanity: Celebrating Marvin Meyer’s Impact on Biblical Studies. Co-edited with Gail Stearns. Eugene, OR: Pickwick/Wipf & Stock Publications, 2016.
Making Magic: A Comparative Approach.” In Invest Your Humanity: Celebrating Marvin Meyer’s Impact on Biblical Studies. Edited by Julye Bidmead and Gail Stearns. Pickwick/Wipf & Stock Publications, 2016.
Introduction.” In Invest Your Humanity: Celebrating Marvin Meyer’s Impact on Biblical Studies. Edited by Julye Bidmead and Gail Stearns. Pickwick/Wipf & Stock Publications, 2016.
“Seasons of Life: Ritual and Renewal in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Das Bild der Jahreszeiten im Wandel der Kulturen und Zeiten. Thierry Greub, ed. Munich/Paderborn: Germany, Wilhem Fink Verlag, 2013. Pgs. 57-73.
“Area K: Levels K-8 and K-7."With Noga Blockman and Mario Martin in Megiddo V: 2004-2008 Seasons, Israel Finkelstein, David Ushisskin, and Eric Cline, eds. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2013.
“Textile Production in Ancient Israel,” in Megiddo V: 2004-2008 Seasons,Israel Finkelstein, David Ushisskin, and Eric Cline, eds. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2013.
“Kingship and Liminiality: Rites of Passage in the Babylonian akitu Festival.” Life, Death, and Coming of Age in Antiquity: Individual Rites of Passage in the Ancient Near East and Adjacent Regions, edited by Alice Mouton and Julie Patrier. PIHANS 124; Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2014. Pgs. 146-158.
“Legal Status and Gender: Ancient Near East,” In Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies (OEBGS), edited by Dr. Julia O’Brien. Oxford University Press,2014.
“Wells in the Hebrew Bible.” Bible Odyssey 2015
“Succession,” Bible Odyssey 2015

Faculty Directories by School or College