Educator Conference 2024

Marcella Barbosa was born and raised in San Diego, California, and first felt the calling to be an archaeologist when she was about 11 years old. She received her BA in history and ancient Near Eastern archaeology from Lycoming College, her MA in archaeology and biblical studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is currently a PhD candidate in the doctoral program for archaeology in the ancient Near East at Lipscomb University. She has presented at multiple professional conferences, as well as published several several articles. Her research focuses on the end of the Late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age in the Shephelah of Israel ,and she has nearly 20 years of archaeological experience, having worked in Israel, Cyprus, Egypt, and Menorca. Currently, Barbosa serves as part of the senior staff for the Tel Gezer Excavation and Publication Project, and as a senior staff member on the Tel Burna Excavation Project. She has worked as a docent and artifact handler for the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible exhibit in Fort Worth, Texas, and as the curator and educational coordinator for the Tandy Institute for Archaeology, before working in her current position as the full-time curator and educational coordinator at the Lanier Center for Archaeology at Lipscomb University.

Dr. Oliver Hersey began serving as the eleventh president of Jerusalem University College on August 1, 2021. Shaped by his own experiences in the Holy Land, Hersey desires to help students better understand the Bible by providing them with opportunities to study in Israel the geographical, cultural, and historical contexts of God’s Word. He taught high school math for five years and coached. He is a pastor in the Reformed Church of America, previously serving as the director of Discipleship and Teaching at Calvary Church in Orland Park, IL. With over 20 years of combined experience in fields related to education, research, pastoring, coaching, and management, Hersey is driven to help grow both people and organizations for service in God’s kingdom.

Hersey earned his BA in secondary education: mathematics and Spanish from Calvin College; his MA in biblical archaeology and ancient Near Eastern languages (Summa Cum Laude) from Trinity International University; and his PhD in theological studies: Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern history and languages from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Throughout the course of his education, he received multiple awards for his leadership and academic research.

Dr. John Lee is associate dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and a professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. He was an author of the "College, Career and Civic Life Framework for Standards in Social Studies" and is a founder and co-director of the C3 Teachers project. He has authored or co-authored several books books, including Inquiry-Based Practice in Social Studies Education: Understanding the Inquiry Design Model; Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers; Teaching the C3 Framework; Visualizing Elementary Social Studies Methods; Research on Technology in Social Studies; and Guiding Learning with Technology.

Lee focuses on issues related to teacher knowledge and practices related to using inquiry in the classroom. His scholarly work with colleagues has resulted in an innovative approach to learning and teaching called the Inquiry Design Model. He is also interested in the uses of digital historical resources in learning and teaching as well as efforts to theorize and develop tools related to new literacies. His research focuses on inquiry design and classroom implementation and best design practices for online collections of historical resources targeted for K–12 classrooms.

Dr. Tremper Longman III (BA Ohio Wesleyan University; MDiv Westminster Theological Seminary; MPhil and PhD Yale University) is a distinguished scholar and professor emeritus of biblical studies at Westmont College. He has written more than 35 books, including commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Daniel, Nahum, and Revelation. His most recent books include Confronting Old Testament Controversies: Pressing Questions about Evolution, Sexuality, History and Violence and Revelation through Old Testament Eyes. He is co-author of A Biblical History of Israel and is presently writing The Old Testament as History, which explores the intersection of the Bible, archaeology, and extrabiblical texts in the reconstruction of the history of Israel during the period of the Hebrew Bible. He is also a senior translator of the New Living Translation.

Dr. Craig Perrier is the high school social studies curriculum and instruction specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, VA. He is also an online adjunct professor of education for Framingham State University and the teacher certification program, EducateVA. Previously, he taught at American Schools in Brazil for six years and six years in public schools in Massachusetts. After leaving the classroom, he was the coordinator for curriculum and instruction for social studies and history at Virtual High School and then the PK–12 social studies coordinator for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools. He has consulted for World Savvy, IIE, iEARN, ABC-Clio, Knovva Academy, the US Department of State, and the OER Project. In addition, he has an MA in global history and an MEd in secondary education and serves on advisory boards for the American Historical Association and the National Humanities Center. He has served on advisory boards for the American Historical Association and the National Humanities Center and is the creator of the free digital history resource "Globalizing U.S. History."

Dr. Cheryl White is a professor of history at Louisiana State University at Shreveport, where she teaches medieval and early modern European history, emphasizing the history of Christianity. White holds the endowed Hubert Humphries professorship and is actively engaged in ongoing research projects related to various historical topics that connect faith and reason. She has been a frequent lecturer and consultant for Museum of the Bible and appears in programming for the A&E Network, EWTN, and the History Channel.