Batten, Alicia J.

Alicia Batten
College: Conrad Grebel University College
Degrees: PhD (St. Michael's)
Email: abatten@uwaterloo.ca
Phone: 519-885-0220 ext 24246
Teaching Category:
Affiliate Cross-Appointment
Appointment Status:
Basic Degree
GCTS Full

Bio

Alicia Batten received her BA in Humanistic Studies from McGill University, and completed an MA and PhD at the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses upon the origins and development of early Christianity, with particular emphasis upon the ancient Mediterranean cultural context (s), including material culture. She also thinks it important to study the shifting manner in which biblical texts are interpreted over the centuries, and is currently writing a commentary examining the text reception and impact of the Letter of James. Beyond her academic interests, Alicia enjoys gardening, hiking, art, and reading works of fiction and poetry. 

  • Specializations

    • The Letter of James
    • Social History of Christian Origins and Early Christianity
    • Dress in Mediterranean Antiquity
    • History of Biblical Interpretation

  • Publications

    • In press: “The Letter of James: Contested Issues” forthcoming in The Oxford Handbook of Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles, edited by Patrick Gray. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024.
    • “Introduction and Notes to the Letter of James” HarperCollins Study Bible, 3rd edition. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023.
    • “Art and the Unexpected” in Teaching and Learning Religion: Engaging the Work of Eugene V. Gallagher and Patricia O’Connell Killen, edited by Davina Lopez and Tom Pearson, 39-48. London: Bloomsbury, 2023.
    • "Early Anabaptists and the Pauline Tradition" in Reformatorische Paulusauslegungen, edited by Stefan Krauter and Manuel Nägele, 383-98. History of Biblical Exegesis 5. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023.
    • "Dressing for Deities: functions and Meanings of Dress within Ancient Associations" in Associations, Deities, and Early Christianity, edited by Bruce Longenecker, 85-100. Waco. TX: Baylor University Press, 2022.
    • “James the Dramatist” in Who Was James? Essays on the Letter’s Authorship and Provenance, edited by Eve-Marie Becker, Sigurvin Lárus Jónssen, and Susanne Luther, 313-30. WUNT 1/485; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022.
    • “Reading Mark through the Lens of Class” in The Struggle Over Class. Socioeconomic Analysis of Ancient Christian Texts, edited by G. Anthony Keddie, Michael Flexsenhar III, and Steven J. Friesen, 187-208. Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplement Series 19. Atlanta: SBL, 2021.
    • “Remembering the Sermon in the Mountains of France”in Social and Cognitive Perspectives on the Sermon on the Mount, edited by Rikard Roitto, Colleen Shantz, and Petri Luomanen, 307-32. Studies in Ancient Religion and Culture. Sheffield: Equinox, 2021.

    Additional publications can be found here.