Suderman, W. Derek

College: Conrad Grebel University College
Degrees: PhD (St. Michael's)
Email: dsuderman@uwaterloo.ca
Phone: 519-885-0220 ext 24212
Personal Website: https://uwaterloo.academia.edu/DerekSuderman
Teaching Category:
Affiliate Cross-Appointment
Appointment Status:
Basic Degree

Bio

Derek Suderman teaches in both the undergraduate Religious Studies and graduate Master of Theological Studies programs. In addition to his textual work as a Hebrew Bible/Old Testament scholar, Suderman explores how diverse cultural and historical contexts inform biblical interpretation and ethical discernment.

Suderman explores the language and cultures of the Bible, often making what students expect to be familiar look quite strange; this in turn provides students with a mirror to see their own settings and beliefs in a new way. He believes that being part of a 'living tradition' involves not simply defending this tradition but recognizing problems and blind spots within it. Suderman proves particularly interested in exploring how the Bible has been used to both justify and oppose violence within the broad history of the Christian tradition.

Suderman has broad research interests, including investigating: the socialaudience of the Psalms; gendered and other forms of violence in the prophets; wisdom literature as a resource for contemporary interfaith dialogue and cooperation; and the ethical implications of biblical interpretation, focused particularly on violence in the Bible and contemporary issues related to Indigenous peoples. Suderman loves to travel and has taught or made academic presentations on 5 continents.

  • Specializations

    • Psalms
    • Lament
    • Prophets
    • Wisdom literature
    • Violence and the Bible
    • Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament
  • Publications

    • “Peace/Peace-making.” In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Berlin: De Gruyter – forthcoming Dec., 2024.
    • “Tackling Violence in the Prophets as a People of Peace: Anabaptist Hermeneutics Then and Now.” In Mennonite Quarterly Review – forthcoming, July 2024.
    • With Lowell Ewert and Mary Lou Klassen. “Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness: Human Rights and Mennonite Faith in the Context of Peacebuilding Practice.” In A Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace: Global Mennonite Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Nonviolence. Edited by Fernando Enns, Nina Schroder-van ’t Schip, and Andrés Pacheco-Lozano. Eugene OR: Pickwick Publications, 2023: 70-86.
    • “From Dialogic Tension to Social Address: Reconsidering Mandolfo’s Proposed Didactic Voice in Lament Psalms.” In Journal of Hebrew Scriptures vol. 17, article 10 (2017): 1-26. DOI: 10.5508/jhs.2017.v17.a10.
    • “Los Salmos de Lamentación: Implicaciones teológicas a partir de un análisis de su audiencia social.” (“Lament Psalms: Theological Implications Arising from an Analysis of their Social Audience”). Aportes Bíblicos: Revista de la Escuela de Ciencias Bíblicas 24. San José, Costa Rica: Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana, 2017: 7-37.
    • “Psalms.” In Fortress Commentary on the Bible: Old Testament and Apocrypha. Edited by Matthew J. M. Coomber, Gale Yee, and Hugh Page. Minneapolis MN: Fortress Press, 2014: 547-599.