Rev. Dr. S. Helen Chukka
Faculty Biography
Helen Chukka is an Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible/First Testament. She earned a Bachelor of Divinity and a Master of Theology from Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai, India, a Master of Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary, New York, and a PhD from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her dissertation is titled “Mixed Marriage Crisis in Ezra 9-10: An Anti-Caste Reading to Unravel the Intricacies of Caste.”
Before coming to the United States in 2016, she served the National Council of Churches in India as the Executive Secretary for the Commission on Youth. She is an ordained minister of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Helen enjoys engaging in contextual readings of the Bible, including Dalit feminist, anti-caste, womanist/feminist interpretations, and juxtaposing biblical texts with Indian films and novels.
BI 222 Hebrew Bible 1
BI 333 Ezra-Nehemiah
Book Chapters
“Reading Her Story in His Narration: Zuleika and Her Otherness in Genesis 39,” in Bible Blind Spots: Dispersion and Othering, edited by Jione Havea and Monica J. Melanchthon (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2021), 143-160.
“Spirituality of Liberation: Encounters in Inter-Contextual and Multi-Textual Contexts,” in Faith Seeking Justice: Dialogue and Liberation, edited by Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar (Switzerland: World Council of Churches, 2021), 118-131.
“Women As ‘Ezer’: Re-Membering Women Role in God’s Mission” in Women from the Pulpit, edited by Atola Longkumer and Mohan Larbeer (Bangalore: BTESSC, 2014).
“Subaltern Talks: Talking from her Pathos and Ethos.” in Building Theologies of Solidarity: Interfacing Feminist Theology with Dalit Theology and Tribal/Adivasi Theologies, edited by, Chhungi, Hrangthan, Raj Bharath. Patta, P. Mohan Larbeer, and P. Mohan Larbeer. Bangalore: Jointly published by BTESSC, NCCI, (Nagpur, SCMI, 2012).
Journal Articles
“Reading Her-story (Ruth) of Resistance and Resilience.” NCC Review CXXXVI,10 (2016): 627-632.
“Exodus 15:20-21 Singing the Song of Liberation: Towards a Redeemed Culture and Identity,” In God’s Image: Journal of Asian Women’s Resource Centre for Culture and Theology 32,1 (2013): 23-30.
“Voicing the Silenced: A Re-Reading of Judges 19,” Bangalore Theological Forum 44, 2 (2012): 131–38.