Lisa Wolfe, Ph.D.
Professor of Religion
Arts & Sciences
Religion
Biography
BA Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder
MDiv, United Theological Seminary, Dayton
PhD, Religion (Hebrew Bible) Northwestern University Joint Program in Religious Studies with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Courses
Bible and Culture (including Honors Section and Service Learning Section), Introduction to World Religions (including Honors Section), Methods of Biblical Analysis, Biblical Hebrew (I and II), Readings in Biblical Hebrew, Women in the Hebrew Bible, Prophetic Literature, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and Pentateuch.
About Me
I have been teaching and learning Bible and religion with students at OCU since 2007. The small, interactive classes full of dedicated OCU students means I truly learn as much as I teach here; I love that about OCU. My main areas of expertise are women in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), and the Wisdom Literature (Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes). In 2011, Cascade Books published my commentary on Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs, and Judith. While I was writing that, I taught a lot of classes on these books, and with the help of many people, I turned them into "Uppity Women of the Bible." These Bible Study videos were produced and are distributed by Living the Questions. More recently, my research has taken me back to my dissertation focus on Ecclesiastes, leading to publication of the Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) volume in the Wisdom Commentary Series. Now I’m focused on more biblical women such as Tamar, Rizpah, and Huldah. I also write for WorkingPreacher.org, BibleOdyssey.org and ChristianCentury.org.
My doctoral work was in the joint religious studies program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Northwestern University, which meant I got to study at a number of the theological schools in Chicago. I did my Master of Divinity at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and my undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Though I majored in psychology as an undergrad, I took a lot of religion, theology, philosophy, and women's studies classes, and I spent a huge amount of time participating at the Wesley Foundation at CU. In 2000, I was ordained in the United Church of Christ, and I take my call to ministry seriously - I am regularly in chapel on campus, and I frequently preach and teach at my own church and others across Oklahoma and the country. I have a happy relationship with United Methodists and have spent most of my career in United Methodist-related institutions, including OCU and the Saint Paul School of Theology at OCU, where I also teach. I have served as interim pastor, associate pastor, Christian educator, youth minister, and camp counselor over the years, and I enjoy serving as one of the regular Godly play storytellers for the elementary-age kids at the church where my family are members.
