Hood Theological Seminary

SALISBURY — Amanda Mbuvi of High Point University will present the annual Bishop Alfred E. and Mrs. Mamie White Endowed Heritage Lecture Series Feb. 8-9 at Hood Theological Seminary.

The series is titled “Blessed Interdependence: Reimagining Identity, Community and Solidarity.” Friday’s lecture, “The Social Ladder and the Family Tree,” will be at 7 p.m. Saturday’s lecture, “We the People (You Must Go),” will be at 10:10 a.m.

Both lectures will be in Aymer Center on the seminary campus at 1810 Lutheran Synod Drive. They are free and open to the public.

Mbuvi is assistant professor of religion at High Point University. She received a Ph.D. in religion with minors in literature and Judaic studies from Duke University and a master of theological studies in biblical studies from Palmer Theological Seminary in St. David’s, Pennsylvania.

Mbuvi received a B.A. in philosophy and literary theory from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She also earned a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University.

Mbuvi’s areas of specialization include Hebrew Bible; literary and theological approaches to biblical interpretation; concepts of identity and community; religion and literature; and Jewish studies. She has taught courses in Old Testament studies, Hebrew prophets, Pentateuch, introduction to Judaism, biblical Hebrew for reading, biblical interpretation, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and Women in the Bible.

Mbuvi says she was drawn to the Hebrew Bible because of its vivid stories and rich language and because of the way it connects the streams of her identity. Born into an interracial family, she grew up Jewish in the black church. In the classroom, she draws on that experience to help students encounter voices from a variety of perspectives, expanding their horizons while also developing their own point of view.

Her research also brings together multiple streams. She approaches biblical studies from an interdisciplinary perspective, engaging questions of identity and community that are prominent in both the biblical texts and contemporary conversations about how we live with those texts and with each other.

Her first book, “Belonging in Genesis: Biblical Israel and the Politics of Identity Formation,” was recently published by Baylor University Press.