Breanna J. Nickel

Hello, everyone! I am a teacher/researcher in the areas of interreligious relations and peacebuilding, scriptural hermeneutics, and the history of Christianity. My current projects include:

• Developing the Global Studies sequential track in Interreligious Relations: four courses that engage students with the theories and practical applications to become skilled Interreligious Practitioners! Our new course development has so far included directed engagement with diverse religious micro-communities in Indiana/Illinois and a transformative May Term in Israel/Palestine.
• Research/forthcoming publications on the life and theology of Anabaptist leader Balthasar Hubmaier.
• Researching 15th-16th century Anabaptist/Jewish relations in Germany, along with broader themes of historical anti-Judaism/anti-Semitism.
• Researching medieval European Christian perceptions of Muslims/Islam.

Below is a list of many of my favorite courses to teach. Also, do you have an idea for a course you think the Religion Department should offer? If so, contact me!

• Religious Landscapes: Pluralism & Extremism
• Islam
• Intro to World Religions
• Christian Theologies
• Liberation Theologies
• Interreligious Dialogue & Mediation
• Biblical Themes of Peace
• Jesus & the Gospels
• Religion in America
• Engaging the Bible
• Identity, Culture & Community

• “Introduction to Zephaniah.” In the Anabaptist Community Bible, edited by John Roth. 2025.
• “Women, Nonviolence and Interreligious Collaboration.” In Women, Creativity, and Nonviolence, edited by Anna Hamling. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2022.
• “The Influence of Medieval Scholastic Theology on the Anabaptists.” In T&T Clark Companion to Anabaptism, edited by Brian Brewer. New York: T&T Clark/Bloomsbury, 2021.
• Aelred of Rievaulx: Liturgical Sermons 3: Durham Collection. Edited and translated with the Catena Scholarium. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2019.
• “The Anabaptists’ Tie to Trinitarianism.” Conrad Grebel Review 37, no. 2 (Fall 2019): 163-170.
• Three Pseudo-Bernardine Works. Edited and translated with the Catena Scholarium. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018.

• “Campus Responses to Israel’s War on Gaza” (Panel Discussant). Mennonite Higher Education Conference, Harrisonburg, May 14-15.
• “Healing, Holiness, and Hindsight: Eugene Vodolazkin’s Laurus and Creative Reflections on Christian Past and Future” (Respondent). American Society of Church History Annual Conference, San Francisco, January 5.
• “Comparative Methods in Undergraduate Pedagogy: Transforming Teaching in Trying Times.” (Roundtable). American Academy of Religion, November 19-22, 2022.
• “The Contemporary Relevance of Erasmus” (Roundtable Presenter). Old Books Made New: The Surprising Wisdom of Erasmus for Today. Intercollegiate Symposium, Goshen College, November 4-5, 2022.
• “Creative Crusade Pedagogy” (Organizer and Presider). Medieval Academy of America, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, March 9-13, 2022.
• “Adapting the Meaning of a Mennonite College Education.” Mennonite Church USA Annual Convention, Cincinnati, OH, July 6-10, 2021.
• “Medieval Scholastic Theology” (Session Presider). International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 10-15, 2021.
• “The Status of Medievalist Film Studies Today” (Roundtable Discussant). International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 10-15, 2021.
• “Peter the Venerable on Islam as Mixed ‘Heresy’.” Medieval Academy of America, University of California, Berkeley, March 26-28, 2020.
• “The Future of the Female Voice in Medieval Monasticism.” Illinois Medieval Association Annual Conference, St. Mary’s College, IN, February 21-22, 2020.
• “Employing Interdisciplinarity: Early Modern Legacies, Future Challenges” (Conference Co-Coordinator and Panel Chair). University of Notre Dame, September 20-21, 2019.
• “Balthasar Hubmaier’s “Scholastic” Experience: Reconstructing his Freiburg Years.” Mennonite Theological Centre Conference, Toronto, Ontario, June 14-16, 2018.
• “Balthasar Hubmaier on the Human and Divine Wills.” Sixteenth Century Society Conference, Milwaukee, WI, October 26-29, 2017.
• “Pseudo-Bernard’s Tractatus de statu virtutum in Translation: Composition, Content, and “Bernardine” Themes.” International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 11-14, 2017.
• “Balthasar Hubmaier on the Lord’s Supper: Real Absence or Real Presence?” Presence and Absence: Annual Graduate Student Conference, Indiana University Bloomington, April 7-8, 2017.
• “Augustinian Influence in Meister Eckhart’s German Sermons: the Word & the Image in the Soul.” International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 12-15, 2016.

2023                   Faculty Scholarly Activity Grant / American Society of Church History                                                   Conference, Mininger Center, Goshen College

2023                   New Course Development Grant / Interreligious Dialogue                                                                           Center for Community Engagement, Goshen College

2022                   Faculty Scholarly Activity Grant / American Academy of Religion                                                             Mininger Center, Goshen College

2022                   IDEA Grant – Israel/Palestine Course Development                                                                                         Global Studies, Goshen College

2021                   Faculty Scholarly Activity Grant / Medieval Academy of America                                                                Mininger Center, Goshen College

2021                   “Global Classroom” Teaching Grant                                                                                                                         Office of International and Off Campus Programs, Augustana College

2020                   “Balthasar Hubmaier’s Expulsion of the Regensburg Jews”                                                                         Individual Research Grant, American Academy of Religion

2019                   “Balthasar Hubmaier’s Expulsion of the Regensburg Jews”                                                                         Faculty Research Fund Award, Augustana College

2019                   The “Same God” Project                                                                                                                                             Teaching Grant, Humanities Fund, Augustana College

2017                   Graduate Travel and Research Grant                                                                                                                      Nanovic Institute for European Studies, University of Notre Dame

French

German

Medieval Latin (including paleographical)

Biblical Hebrew

Koine/Patristic Greek

American Academy of Religion

Anabaptist-Mennonite Scholars Network

International Society for the Study of Medievalism

Peace and Justice Studies Association

Reformation Research Consortium (REFORC)

Sixteenth Century Society

Society for Reformation Research

Society of Biblical Literature

The Medieval Academy of America