Olubunmi “Bunmi” A. Adegbola

Visiting Assistant Professor of New Testament

Obafemi Awolowo University, BA; University of Ibadan, MA; Vanderbilt University, MTS, MA, PhD (anticipated 2025)

Olubunmi (Bunmi) Adegbola is a Doctor of Philosophy candidate in New Testament and Early Christian Studies at Vanderbilt University. She is a fellow and an extern in the Theology and Practice (T&P) Program at Vanderbilt University.

She holds master’s degrees from Vanderbilt University as well as the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. In her academic endeavors, Bunmi has gained much wisdom through the study of various interpretive approaches as well as through the acquisition of various research languages. Such knowledge has allowed her to transcend her own background and to enter into conversation with a multi-dimensional body of scholarship. Her work along these lines began at the University of Ibadan, in Nigeria, where she pursued a master’s degree and wrote a thesis on how women leadership within the church can promote the socioreligious and political development of women and the collective. Her subsequent work at Vanderbilt, both in the Divinity School and in the Graduate Department of Religion, allowed her to sharpen her skills in biblical criticism, which enabled her to read the biblical texts boldly and analytically. At present, she finds herself fully immersed in her dissertation project, titled: “But We Have this Treasure in Clay Jars”: Interpreting the Pauline Paradox in Postcolonial Context of Corinth.

As part of her doctoral training, several exciting academic and scholarly paths and worlds have opened for her. She has participated in collaborative scholarship, at both a national and international level, aiming for global involvement and visibility. She has attended and presented at scholarly conferences in places such as Denver, San Antonio, San Diego in the United States; Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands in Europe; and South Africa. She has also served as a contributing voice to a commentary project on the letter of James. Currently, she has been invited to work on two book projects: global interpretations on family and families from within the New Testament, as well as a Paul in Africa project.