Four New Faculty Members Announced

August 18, 2016 – Princeton Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the appointment of four new faculty members. Dr. Gerald Liu, assistant professor of worship and preaching, and Dr. Margarita Mooney, associate professor of congregational studies, joined the Department of Practical Theology. Dr. Eric Barreto, Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament, and Dr. Mark S. Smith, Helena Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis, joined the Department of Biblical Studies.

Gerald Liu, a United Methodist minister, is active in the Academy of Homiletics. He serves as convener of the Narrative and Imagination workgroup and as editor of the worship reviews for the online journal Homiletic. His forthcoming book, Music and the Generosity of God, draws on both music theory and contemporary theology, employing phenomenology to explore the dimensions of sound in relation to divine generosity. Liu earned his MDiv from Candler School of Theology, and completed his PhD at Vanderbilt University.

Margarita Mooney has conducted research projects in many regions of the United States, as well as in Latin America and Europe. She is working on a forthcoming book, Struggles of Triumph and Tragedy: Human Vulnerability and Existential Security. She earned her MA and PhD from Princeton University.

Eric Barreto is a Baptist minister. He regularly writes for and teaches in faith communities around the country. An alumnus of Princeton Seminary (MDiv ’04), Barreto holds a PhD from Emory University, and a BA from Oklahoma Baptist University. He is the author of Ethnic Negotiations: The Function of Race and Ethnicity in Acts 16, coauthor of New Proclamation, Year C 2013: Easter through Christ the King, and the editor of Reading Theologically. He specializes in the theology of race and ethnicity in Luke/Acts, which is the subject of his forthcoming book, “All of You Are One”: Paul and the Construction of Ethnic Theologies, explores these issues in Pauline literature.

Mark S. Smith specializes in Israelite religion and the Hebrew Bible, as well as the literature and religion of the Late Bronze Age Ugarit. He is the author of more than 100 articles and fifteen books, including his forthcoming, Where the Gods Are: Spatial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Bible World (Yale University Press). Smith is a two-time winner of New York University’s Golden Dozen Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. He received master’s degrees from The Catholic University of America, Harvard University, and Yale University, and completed his PhD at Yale.