Gregg E. Gardner
Office Hours
T 2:00-3:00 By appointmentArea
Focus
About
Education:
- Ph.D. Princeton University, Religion, 2009
- M.A. Princeton University, Religion, 2007
- M.A. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, History of the Jewish People, 2004, Magna Cum Laude
- B.A. Binghamton University, State University of New York, Economics and Jewish Studies, 1998; Magna Cum Laude and High Honors in Economics
Academic Appointments:
- Editor in Chief, AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies, July 2024–present
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Visiting Professor, May 2022
- University of Michigan, Visiting Associate Professor, Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Fall 2021
- University of Pennsylvania, Jody Ellant and Howard Reiter Family Fellowship, Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, Spring 2020
- Brown University, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Postdoctoral Fellow, Recent Doctoral Recipients Fellowship, Early Career Program, 2010–11
- Harvard University, Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica, Alan M. Stroock Postdoctoral Fellowship, Center for Jewish Studies, 2009-10
Teaching
Research
Research Interests
- Jewish Studies
- Jews and Judaism in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine eras (4th century B.C.E. through 7th century C.E.)
- Judaism in Late Antiquity
- Classical Rabbinic literature (e.g. Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash)
- Judaism in the Second Temple era
- Hellenistic Jewish Literature
- Archaeology of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine era Palestine
- Pedagogy in Religious Studies
- Religious ethics and law
- Religion and material culture
- Economic history
Research Areas
- Judaism
- Roman Studies
- Archaeology and Material Culture
- Reception
- Literature
- Culture and Identity
- Law
- Religions
Projects
- Material culture and archaeology of Jews and Judaism in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine eras
- Wealth, poverty, and philanthropy in classical rabbinic literature and late antique Judaism
- Social history of Jews and Judaism in Antiquity
Publications
For my complete CV, please visit https://ubc.academia.edu/GreggGardner
Books:
Gregg E. Gardner, The Origins of Organized Charity in Rabbinic Judaism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015), xvi + 247 pages. Cambridge UP and Amazon
Reviewed in: Review of Biblical Literature (08/2016); Marginalia: Los Angeles Review of Books (August 16, 2016); Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2016.08.20); AJS Review 40, 2 (2016; 404–7); H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online (January 2017); Journal of Jewish Ethics 3, 2 (2017; 267–29)
Gregg Gardner and Kevin L. Osterloh, eds., Antiquity in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Pasts in the Greco-Roman World (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 123; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), viii + 475 pages.
Reviewed in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2009.09.73); Journal for the Study of Judaism (41; 2010); Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (33:5; 2009); New Testament Abstracts (53; 2009); Catholic Biblical Quarterly (72; 2010); Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (35, 2009), Biblische Zeitschrift (54, 2010), Journal of Ancient Judaism (1, 2010), Journal of Jewish Studies (61, 2010), Salesianum (72, 2010), Revue d’histoire et de philosophie religieuses (90, 2010), Review of Biblical Literature (two reviews: 12/2010 and 02/2012), Journal of Roman Studies (100, 2010), Journal of Semitic Studies (2011), Theologische Literaturzeitung (1; 2011), European Journal of Theology (20, 2011).
Articles
“Talmud for Non-Rabbis: Teaching Graduate Students in the Academy,” in Learning to Read Talmud: What it Looks Like and How it Happens (ed. Jane L. Kanarek and Marjorie Lehman; Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2016), 117–36; peer-reviewed; 7,553 words.
“Reading Between the Strata: Teaching Rabbinic Literature with Material Culture,” Teaching Theology & Religion 19:2 (2016), 189–209; peer-reviewed. 11,958 words.
“Pursuing Justice: Support for the Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 2015, Vol. 86 (2016): 37–62; peer-reviewed. 13,848 words.
“Introduction: Competition and Material Culture Through Real and Imagined Spaces,” in Religious Competition in the Greco-Roman World (ed. N. P. DesRosiers and L. C. Vuong; Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplements 10. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016), 11–14.
“Care for the Poor in Early Rabbinic Literature,” in Wealth and Poverty in Jewish Tradition (ed. L. Greenspoon; West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2015); 13–32. 10,525 words.
“Who is Rich? The Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism,” Jewish Quarterly Review 104:4 (2014): 515–36; peer-reviewed.
“Tractate Pe’ah: Introduction, Translation, and Annotation,” The New Oxford Mishnah (ed. S. Cohen and H. Lapin; Oxford University Press); accepted and forthcoming. 16,565 words.
“From the General to the Specific: A Genealogy of ‘Acts of Kindness’ (Gemilut Hasadim) in Rabbinic Literature,” Religious Studies and Rabbinics (ed. E. Shanks Alexander and B. Berkowitz; Routledge Jewish Studies Series); peer-reviewed; in press. 8,338 words.
“City of Lights: The Lamps of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem,” Near Eastern Archaeology 77, 4 (2014): 284–90; peer-reviewed.
“Competitive Giving in the Third Century CE: Early Rabbinic Approaches to Greco-Roman Civic Benefaction,” in Religious Competition in the Third Century C.E.: Jews, Christians, and the Greco-Roman World (ed. J. Rosenblum, N. DesRosiers, and L. Vuong; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht); 2014, 81–92; peer-reviewed.
“Let Them Eat Fish: Food for the Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 45 (2014): 250–70; peer-reviewed.
“Charity Wounds: Gifts to the Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism,” The Gift in Antiquity (ed. M. Satlow; Chichester, West Sussux, UK: Wiley-Blackwell; 2013), 173–88; peer-reviewed.
“Cornering Poverty: Mishnah Pe’ah, Tosefta Pe’ah, and the Reimagination of Society in Late Antiquity,” Envisioning Judaism: Studies in Honor of Peter Schäfer on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday (ed. R. Boustan, K. Herrmann, R. Leicht, A.Y. Reed, and G. Veltri; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013; 2 vols.), vol. 1, pp. 205–16.
“Astrology in the Talmud: An Analysis of Bavli Shabbat 156,” Heresy and Identity in Late Antiquity (ed. E. Iricinschi and H. Zellentin; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), 314–38.
“The Significance of Antiquity in Antiquity: An Introduction,” Antiquity in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Pasts in the Greco-Roman World (ed. G. Gardner and K. Osterloh; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008; co-written with K. Osterloh), 1–25.
“Jewish Leadership and Hellenistic Civic Benefaction in the Second Century B.C.E.” Journal of Biblical Literature 126, 2 (2007): 327–43; peer-reviewed.
Book Reviews
“Review of S. Fine, The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israel.” Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion (Sept. 19, 2017) http://readingreligion.org/books/menorah (978 words)
“Review of Steven H. Werlin, Ancient Synagogues of Southern Palestine, 300–800 CE: Living on the Edge,” in AJS Review 41 (2017): 247-49.
“Review of R. Ulmer and M. Ulmer, Righteous Giving to the Poor: Tzedakah (“Charity”) in Classical Rabbinic Judaism,” in Review of Biblical Literature, 09/2015 (2015): 4 pages (1,378 words).
“Review of S. Fraade, Legal Fictions: Studies of Law and Narrative in the Discursive Worlds of Ancient Jewish Sectarians and Sages,” in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 76 (2014): 177–78.
“Review of B.-Z. Rosenfeld and J. Menirav, Markets and Marketing in Roman Palestine,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period 38, 3 (2007): 419–22.
Encyclopedia Entries and Short Articles
“How Tzedakah Became Charity.” The Gemara.com, July 5, 2017; http://thegemara.com/how-tzedakah-became-charity/ (3,617 words)
“Charity in Ancient Judaism: Problems and Prospects.” Ancient Jew Review, September 21, 2016; http://www.ancientjewreview.com/articles/2016/9/8/charity-in-ancient-judaism-problems-and-prospects (1,346 words)
“Hospitality in Judaism,” Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (ed. D.C. Allison, et. al.; De Gruyter; Berlin, 2016), Vol. 12, pp. 454–56.
“Almsgiving,” “Meir, Rabbi, “Mishnah,” and “Pe’ah,” in The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions (ed. E. Orlin et al.; New York: Routledge, 2016), pp. 36–38, 589, 601, 703.
“Lighting the Way: Material Culture Illuminates Religious Identity,” Biblical Archaeology Review 36, 4 (July/August 2010), 30, 72..
Conference Presentations and Invited Scholarly Lectures
Invited Public Talks
Awards
–American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), Stevan B. Dana Project Grant, 2025, “Horvat Midras (Israel) Archaeological Project,” Co-PI with Orit Peleg-Barkat
–Jordan Schnitzer Book Award, Association for Jewish Studies, Finalist
–International Catacomb Society, Shohet Scholar Grant, 2023–24: Rural Roman Judea Above and Below Ground: The Horvat Midras (Israel) Excavation Project. Co-PI with Orit Peleg-Barkat
–Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, Lydie T. Shufro Summer Research Fellowship, 2023: Rural Diversity and Village Life in the Hellenistic and early Roman Era at Horvat Midras, Israel
–University of Michigan, Frankel Institute Fellowship, Fall 2021, Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. Fellowship theme: Second Temple Judaism: The Challenge of Diversity. Project: The Archaeology of Diversity in Rural Palestine During the Second Temple Era
–Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies, 2021–22; Rotating course award, for UBC-Hebrew University archaeological field school
–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (“SSHRC”), 2019–2022, Insight Development Grant: The Horvat Midras Excavation Project: Cultural Interaction in Rural Roman Judea
–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (“SSHRC”), Connection Grant, 2019: Project: Charity in Classical Jewish Law
–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (“SSHRC”), Insight Grant, 2017–2022: Poverty and Social Justice in Classical Jewish Thought
–Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies of the University of British Columbia, Killam Faculty Research Fellowship, 2016
–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (“SSHRC”), Insight Development Grant, 2015–2017: Charity for the Rich: Individual Almsgiving in Early Rabbinic Judaism
Graduate Supervision
Theses supervised:
–“Manteis And Materials: Keeping an Omen Mind in the Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies”
–“Mosaics of Identity: Herodian Legitimization Through Localized Cultic Toleration”
–“Reimagining The Problem of Evil in the Jewish-Roman Interwar Period Of 74-116 C.E.”
–”The Causes of the Bar Kokhba Revolt: A Critical Reassessment and New Comparisons”