Education

I have been a student all my life it seems. I graduated from highschool in 1982, and have been a college student clear through 1994. I finally graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor's Degree Cum Laude in Religious Studies. My emphasis was on early Christianity and Gnosticism. Before I came to UCB, I studied business, psychology, sociology, chemistry, Spanish, and philosophy. Overall I've had a very well rounded education, even though it took me a while to graduate. I still intend to go on to graduate school at GTU and study History and Religion. When I got out of highschool, I didn't know what I wanted to study. Journalism sounded appealing, as did Spanish, and I have probably changed my focus four or five times since. Finally I took a class in World Religion at TMCC (Truckee Meadows Community College - located in Reno Nevada) and I knew that I wanted to major in philosophy with an emphasis on religion. When I came to Berkeley, and realized that I could actually major in Religion, I was thrilled. I went in intending to study Hinduism and Sanskrit. Due to the timing of classes, I had to enroll in a lot of Mystery Religion and Early Christianity classes, and I quickly became interested in the period from about 300 B.C.E to about 500 C.E. - the period when Christianity came into being. So, that's what ended up being my emphasis, and I have not regreted it.

Educational Links
University of California at Berkeley
University of Nevada at Reno
Truckee Meadows Community College
Peralta Community College
Graduate Theological Union (GTU)

Educators who have influenced my life

Anis Deeb (TMCC)
Erich Gruen (History - UCB)
Susanna Elm (History /Religion - UCB)
David Ulansey (Religion - UCB)
Inez Zupanov (History - UCB)
Richard Payne (History - UCB)
Houston Smith (History - UCB)
Anthony Bulloch (Classics - UCB)

Email: rsimar@ced.berkeley.edu