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Joseph Kozar

Assistant Rector; Associate Professor

Full-Time Faculty

Office for Mission and Rector; College of Arts and Sciences: Religious Studies

Contact

Email: Joseph Kozar
Phone: 937-229-4389
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Degrees

  • Ph.D., University of Saint Michael's College, Toronto

Profile

Dr. Kozar is a member of the Society of Mary (Marianists) of the Province of the United States. He has been on the faculty in religious studies since 1985. Dr. Kozar is current co-chair of the Feminist Biblical Hermeneutics Group of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Faculty perspective

"As I look back I am glad that I began my teaching career on the high school level. It taught me how to organize a class and engage students. My interest in Biblical studies came because of a class that I took in 1973 while working on my master's degree. From personal experience I know that good teachers make a difference. My current interest is in the communities that are hidden behind biblical texts. Communities fostered religious exploration from the inception of our Judeo-Christian movements. At the University of Dayton, I try to encourage students to excel individually and at the same time become members of a learning community."

Research interests

  • First century of the Common Era
  • Hebrew Bible and Christian Testament
  • Classical culture
  • Appreciation of Biblical texts in terms of the story told and the communities impacted

Selected publications

"Perspectives on Autonomy and Responsibility in the Writings of Thomas Merton," University of Dayton Review 25 (Winter 1997): 67-73.

"Reading the Opening Chapter of Luke from a Feminist Perspective," Pp. 53-68 in Escaping Eden: New Feminist Perspectives on the Bible (ed. Harold C. Washington, Susan Lochrie Grahm, and Pamela Thimmes; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998).

"Walking by the Spirit: Advice to the Church in Galatia," Cathechist 33/9 (1999): 52-55.

"Matthew's Scene of Judas' Betrayal of Jesus and Judas' Suicide," Proceedings: Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Bible Societies 20 (2001): 1-16.