Whitley College is pleased to announce the permanent arrival of a lecturer in the Hebrew Bible and language.
Dr Megan Turton will take on the role she has effectively been working towards since 2016 as an adjunct lecturer at the college. In joining the Whitley staff, her professional life will be more fulsome and collaborative, working with the Whitley community and faculty.
“My association with Whitley began in 2012 when studying Hebrew with Rev Dr Val Billingham,” she says. “She was an amazing teacher.
“Even from the earliest days of study I could tell Whitley was a warm, learning community. There was a difference in how people cared for each other.”
She is attracted to the Hebrew text because it gives deeper understanding and access to the Holy Bible. “It is also a beautiful language in and of itself,” she says. “It’s a cultural window into the text, allowing direct access into those thoughts and ideas.”
Dr Turton has nurtured a deep passion for the topic for more than a decade.
“It’s fascinating that the ancient authors were concerned with the same fundamental questions that occupy us today,” she says. “I’m eager to speak into the way the Hebrew Bible speaks into these issues.”
Dr Turton feels this is especially true now during Covid 19, where we are collectively experiencing problems of physical and mental health. “We are trying to make sense of what is happening, this all relates to crises we see in the Hebrew Bible.”
She has high hopes for what she will bring to the role: “Passion and excitement. I want students to feel excited by the Biblical text, to feel empowered to read and interpret it, and understand how the interpretation relates to them.”
She plans to continue her personal research into the character of Biblical law and its propensity for change and interpretation, the topic on which her PhD was based.
When Dr Turton does take a break from the books and study, she enjoys the outdoors. “I’m definitely a different person in nature,” she says. “It tends to bring me out of myself and my human concerns. You can see you’re part of a great ecosystem.
“I love bushwalking and the Australian landscape. Last year, during lockdown, I took up bird watching. I’ve been really enjoying doing this with my husband Micah.
“I’m also a Geelong supporter. I never thought I’d be into football but I married into a Cats family. And they (the team and the in-laws) have grown on me!