Experts at Empire State College

Susan Hollis
Professor
Rochester, NY

Expertise

• Ancient history
• Women’s history (Ancient)
• Ancient Near East history (Egypt and Israel)
• Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context
• Egyptology (history, religion, mythology, literature)
• Women’s Studies (particularly related to religion, folklore, and history)
• Ancient literature (comparative)
• Folklore-Folklife
• Folktales (especially ancient)
• Epics
• Mythology (especially ancient)
• Ancient religions
• Hebrew Bible (women in the Bible)
• World religions

Profile

Susan Hollis has been engaged for decades in scholarship in the literatures and mythology of ancient Egypt. Hollis is known among Egyptologists for her work on Egyptian goddesses and Egyptian folktales (her dissertation was on an ancient Egyptian folktale), and most recently, oral tradition in ancient Egypt. Her professional presentations and publications generally focus on Egyptian religion and narratives, women in the Bible, interrelations between the biblical and the ancient Egyptian worlds, and various aspects of narrative folklore, with a special interest in women’s folk narrative. She has successfully integrated studies in religion, Near East ancient languages, and her interests in women and history to contribute to a large number of edited and reference volumes, articles and reviews. She has shared this scholarship widely in a variety of workshops and professional presentations locally, nationally and internationally. In addition, Hollis coordinates the college’s Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program for the western part of New York state.

Hollis, who specializes in cultural and historical studies at Empire State College, received the Susan H. Turben Award for Excellence in Scholarship in 2006. She has been an associate professor at the college since 1996, and dean and center coordinator (1996-1999), for its Central New York Center in Syracuse.

Hollis earned her A.B. in religion, at Smith College and her Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern languages and civilizations, from Harvard University.