Dr. Valerie A. Stein
Professor of Religious Studies / Program Director, Social Justice / Program Director, Race & Ethnicity Studies / Director, Journey to Justice
Room 341, Olmsted Hall
812-488-1103
vs9@evansville.edu
Professor of Religious Studies, is the Program Director of the Social Justice program and Race & Ethnicity Studies. Dr. Stein has been at the University of Evansville since 2002. She teaches a wide range of courses situated at the intersection of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and social change. Dr. Stein earned her ThD in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament from Harvard University. Her research centers on the use, influence, and impact of religion on issues of gender, sexuality, colonialism, and race.
Stein's book, Anti-cultic Theology in Christian Biblical Interpretation: A Study of Isaiah 66:1-4 and Its Reception grounded the discussion of Christian anti-Jewish interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the analysis of a particular passage. She shows that the widely held Christian interpretation of Isaiah 66:1-4 as an indictment against the Jerusalem temple and cult - and thereby God's rejection of Judaism - is motivated by a theology of substitution that sees the Church as the new Israel. Stein has also presented and published on how interpretations of biblical women reflect social attitudes and beliefs with respect to gender (see, for example, her articles “Know*Be*Do: Using the Bible to Teach Ethics to Children” and “Gender Components in Dramatic Retellings of Judith”). Her current research (see “Privileging God the Father: The Neoliberal Theology of the Evangelical Orphan Care Movement” in The Politics of Reproduction: Adoption, Abortion, and surrogacy in the Age of Neoliberalism) uses postcolonial and feminist methods of biblical criticism to show how evangelical Christian theology interprets the Bible to align the adoptive parents with God and thus effectively to allow for the dismissal of ethical concerns associated with adoption and foster care. In the case of international adoption, this “Gospel-centered” adoption takes advantage of Western privilege to victimize women in developing nations as a form of Christian neocolonialism. She problematizes the role of transracial adoption in the Evangelical orphan care movement as a visual evangelism.
Education
- Th.D., Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Harvard University
- M.A., Old Testament, Luther Seminary
- B.A., History and Religion, Capital University
Research Interests
Dr. Stein’s research explores the intersections of historical memory, religion, race, gender, and social justice in both historical and contemporary efforts toward justice and liberation. She is particularly interested in how religious narratives and practices shape and are shaped by struggles for liberation. Through curriculum development and experiential learning programs such as Journey to Justice, she examines the role of education in confronting systemic injustice and fostering civic engagement.
Courses Taught
Social Justice Theories · Social Justice Movements · Race and Religion · Religion, Gender, and Culture · Bible and Justice · Religion in America · Comparative Religious Ethics
Selected Publications
- “Privileging God the Father: The Neoliberal Theology of the Evangelical Orphan Care Movement.” In The Politics of Reproduction: Adoption, Abortion, and Surrogacy in the Age of Neoliberalism, edited by Modhumita Roy and Mary Thompson, The Ohio State University Press, 2019.
- “Know, Be, Do: How the Bible is Used to Teach Ethics to Children.” SBL Forum 7.2 (2009).
- Anti-Cultic Theology in Christian Biblical Interpretation: A Study of Isaiah 66:1–4 and Its Reception. Studies in Biblical Literature 97. New York: Peter Lang, 2006.
