CV

Education

2007-2008 University of Oxford
PGCE Religious Education

2002-2010  The Johns Hopkins University
PhD (ABD)  Near Eastern and Biblical Studies
Including research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Vienna

2000-2002  University of Oxford
MPhil Oriental Studies

1997-2000  University of Birmingham
BA (First Class Hons)  Ancient History

Employment

2008-  Loughborough Grammar School
Teacher of Religion and Philosophy

  • GCSE: OCR Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
  • A-level: Edexcel Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
  • (Can also teach History, Classical Civilisation, Lower School German)
  • Member of the Teaching and Learning Group
  • Philosophy 4 Children (P4C) Practitioner
  • Boarding Tutor
  • American universities admissions’ advisor
  • Assemblies team

2002-2006  Harford Community College
Adjunct Professor of Religion

  • Average student rating: 3.9/4.0: “his teaching ability is exceptional. Not only were his classes insightful, but truly catalytic, exciting students and generating very profitable discussions. He is one of those faculty members whose talent sets the bar a notch higher for us all.”

2002-2006 Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Writing Center, Johns Hopkins University

  • Instructor: Ancient Near Eastern history, Akkadian, academic writing
  • Student evaluation: 4.55/5.0: “excellent…one of the highest in the program…your students’ written evaluations are also very strong.”

Co-Curricular

  • Loughborough Grammar School Combined Cadet Force, RAF Section (Pilot Officer VR(T))
  • Senior teams football coach
  • Games coach
  • RYA Powerboating Level II
  • Mountain biking and the outdoors

Academic Research

Mesopotamian history, slavery, Neo-Babylonian cuneiform texts, ancient law, religious education, New Religious Movements

Academic Activities

  • Cataloguing of the cuneiform tablet collection of the Archaeological Collection of The Johns Hopkins University
  • Chair (2000-2), Wolfson College Near Eastern Think Tank, Oxford
  • Freelance contributor (1999-2004), Archaeology Odyssey magazine

Publications

  • Articles being prepared on the ethics of slavery, ancient Near Eastern philosophy, and Christian feasting
  • “Assyria at Bisitun and the Universal Kingship of Darius I of Persia,” Jeremy Black Memorial Volume, 2008 (In Press) [On sacred space and propaganda in Persia]
  • “The Peculium of Neo-Babylonian Slaves,” (In Preparation)
  • “JHT61: An Old Babylonian Legal Tablet in the Johns Hopkins University Collection,” (In Preparation)

P333863

Talks and Lectures

2007  “Balatu, a Babylonian Slave,” Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Annual Meeting, St. Petersburg, Russia
2006  “The Neo-Babylonian Peculium,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.
2005  “Darius at Bisitun,” American Oriental Society Annual Meeting, Seattle
2004   “Ancient Near Eastern Apiculture,” Brigham Young University Department of Religious Education

Other Activities

2010- Prison visitor, HMP Leicester
2005-2006 Curating of cuneiform tablets in the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Collection
2000-2002 Chair of Wolfson College (Oxford) Near Eastern Think Tank
1999-2005 Freelance contributor, Archaeology Odyssey magazine
1998-2003 Worked on several archaeological excavations in England

Awards and Fellowships

2006-7  Ernst Mach Grant, Austrian Academic Service
2004  Summer study grant, British Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2002-10  Fellowship, Department of Near Eastern Studies, The Johns Hopkins University
2000-2005  Nibley Fellowship, Brigham Young University
2001  Travel Grant, British School of Archaeology in Ankara
2000-2  Fellowship, Arts and Humanities Research Board

Membership in Professional Societies and Work Groups

American Oriental Society
Society of Biblical Literature
British Institute for the Study of Iraq
National Association of Teachers of Religious Education