Jennifer Grace Bird, PhD

Growing up in Roanoke, Virginia, former Associate Professor of Religion Jennifer G. Bird has recently relocated to Portland, OR. She is currently working on her second book, Permission Granted, and speaking and teaching on matters related to gender, sexuality and power within the texts of the bible, especially from the letters of the New Testament. Her first book, Abuse, Power and Fearful Obedience: Reconsidering 1 Peter’s Commands to Wives, was recently assigned at Harvard Divinity School. Her undergraduate degree is a BS in Mathematics, with an Education Minor, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1994). After two years training with an international para-church organization, Young Life, and a cross-country "happiness move" to Portland, OR, she found herself applying to seminary in order to study biblical languages and look into what the bible says about women. With an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary (2001), she began PhD work in New Testament and Early Christianity and finished that degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee (2007). She grew up in a family that was active in a United Methodist Church congregation, was a summer youth leader during college, had two internships during seminary at Presbyterian churches in New York City, and a one-year part-time position at First Presbyterian Church, Waco, Texas. Throughout her ten years in Nashville, Tennessee and Greensboro, North Carolina, she sought out opportunities to teach classes crafted for local churches. Her post-baccalaureate teaching experience began in her final year at Princeton Theological Seminary, and included TA positions or full teaching responsibilities for Koine Greek throughout PhD coursework and writing. Her most recent full-time position was for six years at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina. While writing and speaking on both coasts, Jennifer is an adjunct professor for Portland Community College and University of Portland.

Dr. Bird's Curriculum Vitae