Marshall Cunningham

Marshall Cunningham is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago's Divinity School and the College. He specializes in Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East studies, focusing on identity formation in ancient and modern communities following geopolitical upheaval. His research integrates historical-critical methods with trauma, diaspora, and ethnicity theories.

Current research project: Reconstructing Judeanness: Homelands, Diasporas, and the Production of Judean Identity in the 6th and 5th Centuries BCE, analyzing Egyptian, Babylonian, Samarian, and Judean evidence. As a Core curriculum instructor, he explores how ancient texts like the Hebrew Bible and New Testament gained authority in their cultural-political contexts.

Professional roles include: Editor for Religion Compass, Advisory Board member for the Society of Biblical Literature's Israelite Religion and Persian Period sections. Publications reflect interdisciplinary approaches combining linguistics, archaeology, and textual analysis.