Almond Sin called to Union Seminary as Visiting Instructor of Old Testament
RICHMOND, VA (June 29, 2021) – Almond Ka Kwan, Sin has been appointed Visiting Instructor of Old Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary, beginning July 1, 2021.
Professor Sin comes to Union from Vanderbilt University where she is a Doctor of Philosophy candidate and has served as a course instructor in Biblical Hebrew. She also has taught at Taiwanese/American Fellowship Presbyterian Church in New Brunswick, NJ, during her study at Princeton Theological Seminary. Prior to her study in the United States, Sin served as a pastor in the Wing Kwong Pentecostal Holiness Church in Hong Kong.
Her research interests are in the areas of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel. Her dissertation focuses on Primeval Wives and Their Afterlives. She has published “Religious Hybridity: East Asian Artistic Motifs in Islamic Portrayals of Adam and Eve” in the Bible in the Arts of Deutsche Bibel Gesellschaft. Her conference presentations include “Religious Symbolism of Noah’s Ark Imagery between Twelfth and Fifteenth Century” (Nov 2019), “From Pious to Profane: Changing Interpretations of The Wife of Noah from Early Judeo Christian to Islamic Literature” (Jul 2019), “Psalm 49 Enigma of Life and Death in Poetic Performances” (Nov 2018), “Cultural Hybridity Revisited: Genesis in Islamic Religious Art during the Mongols” (Jul 2018) and “Job 26:5-14 – A Doxology Unveiling Job’s Theological Self-Estrangement” (Apr 2017). Sin speaks several languages, including Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and German. She also has fluency in Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Classical Syriac, Quranic Arabic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Middle Egyptian, Koine Greek, Latin, and French.
“We are thrilled that Professor Sin will join our faculty for one year as an extern in the Program in Theology and Practice in the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt,” Academic Dean Ken McFayden said. “Her experiences in congregations in Hong Kong and the United States, coupled with her research interests and teaching gifts, will enrich our seminary in the coming year.”
Professor Sin will assist Dr. Samuel Adams, who will serve as her mentor, with the Old Testament I course during the fall term. She will offer an elective course on Neglected and Anonymous Women in the Old Testament and their Survivals in the spring term. As part of her externship, she will serve on the faculty’s Committee on Academic Programs to learn more about responsibilities of the faculty in areas of shared governance.
“I am delighted to be part of the Union community during my externship year,” Professor Sin said. “I have always wanted to serve in an institution like this that prioritizes good teaching practice and dedicated pastoral care of students.”
Professor Sin has a Master of Arts from Vanderbilt, a Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, a Master of Divinity from Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Bachelor of Arts from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
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Contact:
Mike Frontiero
Union Presbyterian Seminary
mfrontiero@upsem.edu
