Martien Halvorson-Taylor
Humanities Scholarship
Fall 2024 - group 3
(Literature Scholarship) – Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia – United States – Natalie and Richard Jacoff Foundation Fellowship
Martien Halvorson-Taylor is a scholar of the literature, religions, and history of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). She has published extensively on the concept of “exile” and “migration” in the ancient world; as well, how biblical literature has been interpreted to articulate the major human questions and provide for existential reflection. In addition to her scholarly publications, she is co-host of the podcast Sacred & Profane and the author of Writing the Bible on Audible/Amazon.
Martien Halvorson-Taylor is completing an English translation of the Song of Songs, a love poem in the Bible, that brings to bear both her knowledge of biblical languages as well as her interdisciplinary collaborations with scientists, poets, and musicians. She seeks to render a translation that both accounts for the poem in its historical context but also gives insight into why this work endures, meeting us in our current human experience of love and the natural world.