Shes a self-describedYankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominately Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible belt.

And Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is coming to West Virginia University in October to talk about such interfaith connections, and why they hold a critical key to our humanity.

Levine, a leading New Testament scholar based at Vanderbilt University, will discussJesus and Judaism: Why the Connection Still Matters,at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in Room 259 of Hodges Hall on WVU s downtown campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Her visit here is sponsored by WVU s Program for Religious Studies in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

She is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt, and also is director of the schools Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality.

Levine is a frequent contributor to The Oxford Bible Commentary, Bible Review, the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, the MacMillan Dictionary of Biblical Judaism, and the Women’s Bible Commentary.

She has also written for the BeliefNet on the World Wide Web, and has recorded audio pieces on the New Testament and Old Testament for the Teaching Company’sGreat Lecturesseries.

Levine is presently editing a 14-volume series,The Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writing,for Continuum/Sheffield University Press.

She has also appeared in cable documentaries produced by outlets from CNN to PBS and the Arts and Entertainment Network.

Levine was also on campus last April when she delivered the Manfred O. Meitzen Outstanding Guest Theological Lecture.

She holds an A.B. from Smith College and graduate and doctoral degrees from Duke University.

We are delighted to have Dr. Levine back for a second time,said Dr. Aaron Gale, who coordinates WVU s religious studies program.It is a great opportunity for our students and members of the local community to interact personally with a prominent scholar they’ve almost certainly seen on television.

For more information, contact Gale at Aaron.Gale@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-3641 extension 33313.

WVU s Program for Religious Studies online:www.wvu.edu/~relst/.