Hershberger Graduates in September

Hershberger photo

Our congratulations go out to Dr. Nathan Hershberger, who graduated with the PhD in Religious Studies in September! Dr. Hershberger came to Duke University equipped with a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Mennonite University and a Master of Arts from University of Virginia. At Duke, Hershberger’s major field was Christian Theological Studies, and minor fields were Islamic Studies and Political Theory. His dissertation “Tending Scripture’s Wounds: Suffering, Moral Formation, and the Bible” was supervised by Dr. Luke Bretherton, and other committee members included Professors Lauren Winner, Peter Casarella, Eugene Rogers, Janet Martin Soskice.

Hershberger’s publications include four refereed journal articles including one that is forthcoming this year (“The Wounds of Hope: Scriptural Apocalypticism and the Wisdom of Anna Jansz,” Conrad Grebel Review), four book reviews including one that is forthcoming this year (Mark James, Learning the Language of Scripture: Origen, Wisdom, and the Logic of Interpretation (Brill, 2021). Reviewed in Modern Theology), six articles and an encyclopedia entry.

Hershberger’s teaching has won distinctions during his time at Duke. While at Duke, Hershberger received a Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching Writing in the Disciplines from the Thompson Writing Program. He also distinguished himself as an instructor by being placed in the top 5% of student evaluations for all humanities courses in spring 2021 for his course “Christianity, Suffering, and Evil.” In summer of 2018, he taught an intensive course on curriculum design for Iraqi high school teachers at Mar Qardakh International Baccalaureate School, where he had taught twice previously.

During Dr. Hershberger’s time at Duke, he gave six public lectures. His academic service includes acting as session convener twice for the Society for Christian Ethics and once for Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre. He co-organized the Theology and Ethics Colloquium series and was Head Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Christian Ethics at Duke. In addition, he served as mentor for the MA Mentorship Program.

Besides his native language English, Dr. Hershberger is proficient in four other languages-verbal and written in Arabic and Spanish, and scholarly reading in German and Hebrew. While in the Durham area, he was active in the Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship as a regular preacher and a worship committee member. Hershberger is currently a Research Fellow with the Toronto Mennonite Theological Center and teaches Bible and history at Eastern Mennonite High School.