Brant, Jo–Ann A. 1956-

PERSONAL:

Born 1956. Education: University of Alberta, B.A., 1980; McMaster University, M.A., 1986, Ph.D., 1992.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Goshen College, 1700 S. Main St., Goshen, IN 46526. E-mail—joannab@goshen.edu.

CAREER:

Writer, educator. Canadian Mennonite Bible College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, assistant professor, 1991-93; Goshen College, Goshen, IN, professor, 1993—.

MEMBER:

Society of Biblical Studies, Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

WRITINGS:

Dialogue and Drama: Elements of Greek Tragedy in the Fourth Gospel, Hendrickson (Peabody, MA), 2004.

(Editor, with Charles W. Hedrick and Chris Shea) Ancient Fiction: The Matrix of Early Christian and Jewish Narrative, Society of Biblical Literature (Atlanta, GA), 2005.

Contributor to books, including Without Spot or Wrinkle, 2000. Contributor to periodicals, including Journal for the Study of the New Testament.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jo-Ann A. Brant is a biblical scholar and professor at Goshen College in Indiana. In conjunction with her academic duties, Brant has authored several scholarly articles that have appeared in books and periodicals. In 2004 she published her first full-length book, Dialogue and Drama: Elements of Greek Tragedy in the Fourth Gospel.

Dialogue and Drama is a four-chapter study of the fourth gospel through the lens of dramatic narrative, specifically Greek drama, and even more specifically, the play Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides. Critics responded to the study with praise. David W. Kuck, reviewing the book in Currents in Theology and Mission, acknowledged that the book "convinced me that much in the Fourth Gospel can be appreciated more clearly if the conventions of drama are understood." Kuck went on to conclude that the study is "a serious and partly successful attempt" that will "provoke much new genuine insight." Interpretation critic Colleen Conway had a similar reaction to Dialogue and Drama. Conway began her review by noting that there is "a long tradition of studying the dramatic elements" present in the fourth gospel. The critic nevertheless felt that Brant's work "yields new explanations," going on to conclude that "Brant has made a significant and valuable contribution to the field. Those looking for a rare thing … would do well to read her work."

After publishing Dialogue and Drama, Brant edited Ancient Fiction: The Matrix of Early Christian and Jewish Narrative with Charles W. Hedrick and Chris Shea. The book was released to a warm critical reception in 2005. A reviewer writing in Reference & Research Book News noted that in Ancient Fiction, religious scholars review the "interplay between Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian narratives." The book examines texts by ancient scholars, such as Homer and Virgil, as well as the New Testament, Shakespeare, and Greek novels in an attempt to shed further insight on the structure and content of ancient theological writing.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Catholic Biblical Quarterly, October 1, 2006, Paul M. Fullmer, review of Ancient Fiction: The Matrix of Early Christian and Jewish Narrative, p. 796.

Currents in Theology and Mission, October 1, 2006, David W. Kuck, review of Dialogue and Drama: Elements of Greek Tragedy in the Fourth Gospel, p. 418.

Interpretation, January 1, 2006, Colleen Conway, review of Dialogue and Drama, p. 102.

Reference & Research Book News, May 1, 2006, review of Ancient Fiction.

ONLINE

Goshen College Web site,http://www.goshen.edu/ (May 20, 2008), author profile.