Kenneth R. Atkinson
Professor of History
Graduate Program Coordinator
Seerley 318
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Kenneth R. Atkinson
Professor of History
Graduate Program Coordinator
Ph.D., Temple University, 1999
M.A., Temple University, 1996
M.Div., The University of Chicago, 1994
Dr. Atkinson teaches the UNIFI class on the Middle East such as HIST3110 Conflict and Justice in History: Terrorism, and upper-level classes on the History of Classical Civilizations and Biblical Archeology.
Professor Atkinson’s special interests include Ancient History, Archeology, Ancient and World Religions, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is the author of several books, numerous journal articles, encyclopedia entries, as well as translations and linguistic studies of ancient texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Syriac. Professor Atkinson is a co-editor for Misusing Scripture: What are Evangelicals Doing with the Bible? released in 2023. He is also the author of the recent historical biography, Empress Galla Placidia and the Fall of the Roman Empire (2020). Before that he published a book on the history of the ancient Middle East based on the Dead Sea Scrolls, a linguistic study of ancient Greek and Syriac poetry, and articles on archaeology: The Hasmoneans and Their Neighbors: New Historical Reconstructions from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Classical Sources(2018).
In March 2023, Professor Atkinson received the James F. Lubker Faculty Research Award, recognizing excellence in research and scholarship, including the creative and performing arts. He is also a recipient of the Iowa Regent’s Award for Faculty Excellence, UNI’s Donald N. McKay Faculty Research Award, UNI’s Distinguished Scholar Award, and an Outstanding Teaching Award for undergraduate instruction at UNI. Dr. Atkinson also received the Commander’s Award for Public Service medal from the U.S. Department of the Army.