Dr. Cheryl Exum Presents Tate-Willson Lectures: “The Bible and the Arts”

Dr. J. Cheryl Exum

DALLAS (SMU) – J. Cheryl Exum, Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield and a Director of Sheffield Phoenix Press, will be featured speaker for the 2015–16 Willis M. Tate-Willson Lectures at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. The theme of this year’s lectures is “The Bible and the Arts.” Dr. Exum will present a lecture on “Why Bible Readers Should Visit the Art Gallery,” Monday, March 23, at 7:00 p.m., in the Great Hall of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall, 5901 Bishop Boulevard, on the SMU campus in Dallas. The Monday lecture is free and open to the public, and no reservations are required.

Dr. Exum received her B.A. from Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York. In January 2015 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Uppsala.

Dr. Exum has done pioneering work in the areas of literary criticism of the Hebrew Bible; feminist and gender criticism; cultural studies; the Bible in art, music and film; and the Song of Songs and ancient Near Eastern love poetry. The author of numerous articles and edited volumes, her books include Tragedy and Biblical Narrative: Arrows of the Almighty (1992); Fragmented Women: Feminist (Sub)versions of Biblical Narratives (1993); Song of Songs: A Commentary (2005); and Plotted, Shot, and Painted: Cultural Representations of Biblical Women (2d ed., 2012). She currently is completing a book on the Bible in art, with attention to figures from Hagar to Mary the mother of Jesus.

A former President of the Society for Old Testament Study (2010), Dr. Exum’s responsibilities at Sheffield Phoenix Press include serving as editor of the series Hebrew Bible Monographs and Bible in the Modern World, and co-editor of the journal Biblical Reception.

The Tate-Willson Lectures were established in 1967 through a gift from Dr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson, Sr., and are named in honor of Willis M. Tate, SMU’s fifth president. They are presented under the auspices of SMU’s Graduate Program in Religious Studies (GPRS). In addition to the public lecture on Monday, March 23, Professor Exum will present a lecture for SMU students, faculty and staff on Tuesday, March 24.

For additional information about the 2015 Tate-Willson Lectures, contact the GPRS at 214.768.2432 or gradreli@smu.edu.

Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, and Doctor of Ministry, as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.