BOONE, N.C. — The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Davis Hankins as the director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (CJHPS).
Dr. Hankins is an associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. He holds a B.S. from North Carolina State University, an M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Emory University.
Hankins' research focuses on the intersection of political economy, religion and literature in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. His first book, The Book of Job and the Immanent Genesis of Transcendence (Northwestern University Press, 2015), received the 2017 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise. He recently submitted a book manuscript on the socioeconomic and political transformations that occurred under the Ptolemaic administration of Egypt, and is currently completing research on related changes in Judaea and in Jewish intellectual history under the Ptolemies in the early Hellenistic period.
A native of North Carolina, Hankins joined Appalachian State's Department of Philosophy and Religion in 2011, and has served as an affiliate faculty member in CJHPS since 2016. He teaches surveys of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism and the New Testament, and other courses on prophecy and justice, gender and sexuality and visual art and religion. In 2019, he completed the Summer Institute on the Holocaust and Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University’s Holocaust Educational Foundation.
In his new role as director of CJHPS, Hankins will oversee the Center with the assistance of Amy Hudnall, who has served as interim director for the past two years. We thank Hudnall for her tireless service to the Center and look forward to working with her as she continues her leadership within the Center as the newly appointed Assistant Director of Outreach and Public Relations.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Davis Hankins as the director of CJHPS and recognizing Amy Hudnall for her continued outstanding service.
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About the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies
Appalachian State University’s Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies was established in 2002 to develop new educational opportunities for students, teachers and the community. Located administratively within the College of Arts and Sciences, the center’s vision promotes tolerance, understanding and respect for all human life. To accomplish this vision, the center works to strengthen tolerance, understanding and remembrance by increasing the knowledge of Jewish culture and history, teaching the history and meaning of the Holocaust and utilizing these experiences to explore peaceful avenues for human improvement and the prevention of further genocides. Learn more at holocaust.appstate.edu.
About the Department of Philosophy and Religion
The Department of Philosophy and Religion invites students to explore the world, examine beliefs, understand a diversity of worldviews, and challenge the ideas and values that instruct our lives. The department offers a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies, as well as a minor in both of these areas. Learn more at philrel.appstate.edu.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at cas.appstate.edu.
Dr. Davis Hankins is an associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religion.
Dr. Davis Hankins is an associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religion.