Westar Institute

Lillian I. Larsen serves as Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Redlands in Southern California. With formal training as a scholar of the New Testament and Christian Origins (Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary), her research focuses on the emergence of a Christian curriculum within monastic classroom settings. Larsen’s substantive corpus of scholarly publication is distinguished by adept application of New Testament/biblical criticism to late ancient/monastic source material. Her recently published anthology, Monastic Education in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, 2018), and a complementary monograph, rewrite a ‘missing chapter’ in both the history of education and the history of Christianity. Dr. Larsen was the co-chair with Nina Livesey and Jason BeDuhn of Westar’s Christianity Seminar – Phase II. Her expertise in bible, emergent monasticism, and classroom pedagogy brought unique perspectives and scholarly connections to the seminar. In her teaching and research, Dr. Larsen contextualizes the functionality of biblical texts.

Co-chair, Westar Christianity Seminar, Phase II