Rate My Professor Christopher Heard

R. Christopher Heard is Professor of Religion in the Religion and Philosophy Division at Seaver College of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He earned a PhD in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, in 2000; an MA in Old Testament Studies from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, in 1993; and a BA in Human Communication from Abilene Christian University in 1989. Heard has served as Director of the Seaver Center for Teaching Excellence, where he advanced pedagogical practices through technology integration and faculty development. His teaching portfolio includes courses such as Old Testament in Context, The Pentateuch, The Wisdom Literature, Elementary Hebrew I-II, and Intermediate Hebrew I.

Heard's research specializations encompass Judean culture, history, and literature in the Persian period; literary features of biblical narrative; reception history and reception theory focusing on the Bible in popular culture; and the book of Genesis. Notable publications include his monograph Dynamics of Diselection: Ambiguity in Genesis 12-36 and Ethnic Boundaries in Post-Exilic Judah (Society of Biblical Literature, 2001); contributions to edited volumes such as "Biblical Composition and Biblical Inspiration" in Revelation and Leadership in the Kingdom of God (Gorgias, 2020), "The Tree of Life in Genesis" in The Tree of Life (Brill, 2020), "In the Creator's Image: Divine and Mundane Self-Reproduction in Science-Fiction Films" in T&T Clark Companion to the Bible and Film (Bloomsbury, 2018), and "The Genesis of Identity in the Biblical World" (co-authored with Danna Nolan Fewell) in The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative (Oxford University Press, 2016); as well as peer-reviewed articles like "On the Road to Paran: Toward a Christian Perspective on Hagar and Ishmael" (Interpretation, 2014) and "What Does the Mob Want Lot to Do in Genesis 19:9?" (Hebrew Studies, 2010). He has received the Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence (2007), Seaver Fellow in Religion (2005-2006), Armstrong Fellow in Religion (2004-2005), Waves of Innovation IV Development Grant (2019-2020), and several Pepperdine University Technology and Learning Grants. Professionally, Heard is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, co-founder and co-chair of its Genesis section (2011-2016), and former president of the Pacific Coast Region (2009-2010).