Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
2015 | Ph.D., Religious Studies, Brown University, Providence Rhode Island
Dissertation: "'A Land Cleansed of Heretics’: Cult Practice and Contestation in the Christianization of
Late Antique Constantinople”
2005 | Master of Arts, Early Christian Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
2002 | Classical Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, Theology/Greek, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
2010 | Byzantine Greek Summer School, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2020-present | Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Amherst College
2019-2020 | Research Associate and Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
2017-2019 | Postdoctoral Fellow in Religions of Western Antiquity, Department of Religion, Florida State University
Summer 2017 | Summer Fellow in Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections
2015–2017 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Providence College
LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES
Ancient | Latin, Greek, Syriac
Modern | French, German
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Christianity in Late Antiquity
Religious Ritual in Late Antiquity
Landscape and Memory in the Built Environment
Religious Diversity and Boundary-Construction in Late Antiquity
Pilgrimage and Relic Economies
Religion and Violence
TEACHING INTERESTS
Christianity in Late Antiquity (Patristics)
New Testament and Early Christianity
The Late Antique World
History of Christianity
Syriac Christianity
Greek and Roman religion and culture
Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Ancient Mediterranean
BOOKS
202o | Constantinople: Ritual, Violence, and Memory in the Making of a Christian Imperial Capital (University of California Press).
2016 | Jacob of Serug. Homilies on the Women Whom Jesus Met, edited and translated by Sebastian Brock, Reyhan Durmaz, Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Michael Payne, and Daniel Picus (Gorgias Press).
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES/BOOK CHAPTERS
Forthcoming | " John Chrysostom and the Homily as Christian Grammatical Instruction,“ in Literature and the Bible: Late Antiquity through the Medieval Period, edited by Ian Levy (general editor Stephen Prickett) [extended introductory essay, translation, and commentary].
2019 | “A School for the Soul: John Chrysostom on Mimesis and the Force of Ritual Habit,” in The Garb of Being: Embodiment and Other Pursuits of Holiness in Late Ancient Christianity, edited by Georgia Frank, Andrew S. Jacobs, and Susan R. Holman (Fordham University Press).
2019 | “The City a Palimpsest: Fifth-century Historiography and the Rewriting of Arian Violence,” in Heirs of Roman Persecution: Studies on a Christian and Para-Christian Discourse in Late Antiquity, edited by Éric Fournier and Wendy Mayer (Routledge Press).
2019 | "Christian Religious Symbolism and Pilgrimage,” in Routledge Handbook on Jerusalem, edited by Suleiman Mourad, Bedros Der Matossian, and Naomi Koltun-Fromm (Routledge Press).
2017 | "Wandering Wombs, Inspired Intellects: Christian Religious Travel in Late Antiquity," Journal of Early Christian Studies 25.1: 89-117.
WORK IN PROGRESS
A New Translation of Socrates's Ecclesiastical History (with David Maldonado-Rivera and Jeremy Schott).
"Sacrifice, Banquets, and Drunken Elephants: The Problem of Christian Identity in Libanius's Oratio 30," for Identities in Antiquity, co-edited by Vicky Manolopoulou, Joseph Skinner, and Christina Tsouparopoulou (Routledge).
Cotton Mather, Biblia Americana. John and Acts, co-editor with Harry C. Maddux and Rick Kennedy.
COMPETITIVE GRANTS AND AWARDS
2018 | Journal of Early Christian Studies Best First Article Award
2015 | Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Prize in the Humanities, Brown University
2013–2015 | Mellon Workshop Grant, “Cultures of Performance in the Post-classical Mediterranean”
Cogut Center for the Humanities, Brown University
Website: http://culturesofperformance.weebly.com
2012 | Gorgias Press Book Grant Program, Semi-Finalist
INVITED LECTURES
2020 | “Where the Nations Come Together? Religious Diversity and Ritual Transfer in Late Antique Pilgrimage and Festival Culture”
Elizabeth A. Clark Center for Late Antique Studies
Duke University, February 17, 2020
2018 | “Ritual Confusion and Violence in the Processions of Late Antique Constantinople”
Moving through time: processions from the classical past to Byzantium
University of London, June 6, 2018
2018 | “Violence, Religion, and Writing History”
Keynote, Department of Religion Undergraduate Research Symposium
Florida State University, April 27, 2018
2017 | “Converting Bodies: Ritual Mutilation in Late Antique Religious Conflict,”
Torture, Abuse, and Desecration in the Name of Religion: Visions, Actions, Justifications (Symposium)
Brown University, May 7–9, 2017
2016 | “‘For Nothing So Moves the Soul’: St. John Chrysostom on Mimesis and the Force of Ritual Habit”
Creighton University, September 20, 2016
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
2018 | “Your Brother’s Blood Drips From Your Hand: the Punishment of Cain in Rabbinic and Syriac Christian Interpretation”
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, November 18, 2018
2018 | “Mutilation and Extra-Lethal Violence in Late Antique Historiography”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 26, 2018
2017 | “He Made the Palace a Monastery: Power, Piety, and the Construction of Orthodoxy under Theodosios II”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 26, 2017
2016 | Panelist, “Civic Space and Ritual Practice in Late Antiquity: New Perspectives,” Religious World of Late Antiquity
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, November 20, 2016
2016 | “The City a Palimpsest: Fifth-Century Historiography and the Rewriting of Arian Violence”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 26–28, 2016
2015 | “By the World Forgot: Sabbatians and the Manipulation of Memory in Fifth-century Constantinople”
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2015
2014 | “Violence, the Politics of Memory, and Religious Boundaries in Fourth-century Constantinople”
Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium, Brown University, September 16, 2014
2013 | “Dictating Religious Experience: Eusebius’ Ekphrasis on the Church of the Holy Apostles”
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, November 23–26, 2013
2013 | “Pilgrim or Traveler? Constructions of Ancient Christian Pieties”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 23–25, 2013
2012 | “Living Up To Homer: Julian’s Normative Model of Ritual Expression”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 24–26, 2012
RELATED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
2018–present | Co-Chair, Religious Competition in Late Antiquity Program Unit, Society of Biblical Literature
2016–present | Steering Committee, Religious Competition in Late Antiquity Program Unit, Society of Biblical Literature
2017 | Awards and Prize Committee, North American Patristics Society
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
North American Patristics Society
Society of Biblical Literature
Society for Classical Studies
Association for Ancient Historians
2015 | Ph.D., Religious Studies, Brown University, Providence Rhode Island
Dissertation: "'A Land Cleansed of Heretics’: Cult Practice and Contestation in the Christianization of
Late Antique Constantinople”
2005 | Master of Arts, Early Christian Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
2002 | Classical Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, Theology/Greek, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
2010 | Byzantine Greek Summer School, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2020-present | Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Amherst College
2019-2020 | Research Associate and Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
2017-2019 | Postdoctoral Fellow in Religions of Western Antiquity, Department of Religion, Florida State University
Summer 2017 | Summer Fellow in Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections
2015–2017 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Providence College
LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES
Ancient | Latin, Greek, Syriac
Modern | French, German
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Christianity in Late Antiquity
Religious Ritual in Late Antiquity
Landscape and Memory in the Built Environment
Religious Diversity and Boundary-Construction in Late Antiquity
Pilgrimage and Relic Economies
Religion and Violence
TEACHING INTERESTS
Christianity in Late Antiquity (Patristics)
New Testament and Early Christianity
The Late Antique World
History of Christianity
Syriac Christianity
Greek and Roman religion and culture
Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Ancient Mediterranean
BOOKS
202o | Constantinople: Ritual, Violence, and Memory in the Making of a Christian Imperial Capital (University of California Press).
2016 | Jacob of Serug. Homilies on the Women Whom Jesus Met, edited and translated by Sebastian Brock, Reyhan Durmaz, Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Michael Payne, and Daniel Picus (Gorgias Press).
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES/BOOK CHAPTERS
Forthcoming | " John Chrysostom and the Homily as Christian Grammatical Instruction,“ in Literature and the Bible: Late Antiquity through the Medieval Period, edited by Ian Levy (general editor Stephen Prickett) [extended introductory essay, translation, and commentary].
2019 | “A School for the Soul: John Chrysostom on Mimesis and the Force of Ritual Habit,” in The Garb of Being: Embodiment and Other Pursuits of Holiness in Late Ancient Christianity, edited by Georgia Frank, Andrew S. Jacobs, and Susan R. Holman (Fordham University Press).
2019 | “The City a Palimpsest: Fifth-century Historiography and the Rewriting of Arian Violence,” in Heirs of Roman Persecution: Studies on a Christian and Para-Christian Discourse in Late Antiquity, edited by Éric Fournier and Wendy Mayer (Routledge Press).
2019 | "Christian Religious Symbolism and Pilgrimage,” in Routledge Handbook on Jerusalem, edited by Suleiman Mourad, Bedros Der Matossian, and Naomi Koltun-Fromm (Routledge Press).
2017 | "Wandering Wombs, Inspired Intellects: Christian Religious Travel in Late Antiquity," Journal of Early Christian Studies 25.1: 89-117.
WORK IN PROGRESS
A New Translation of Socrates's Ecclesiastical History (with David Maldonado-Rivera and Jeremy Schott).
"Sacrifice, Banquets, and Drunken Elephants: The Problem of Christian Identity in Libanius's Oratio 30," for Identities in Antiquity, co-edited by Vicky Manolopoulou, Joseph Skinner, and Christina Tsouparopoulou (Routledge).
Cotton Mather, Biblia Americana. John and Acts, co-editor with Harry C. Maddux and Rick Kennedy.
COMPETITIVE GRANTS AND AWARDS
2018 | Journal of Early Christian Studies Best First Article Award
2015 | Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Prize in the Humanities, Brown University
2013–2015 | Mellon Workshop Grant, “Cultures of Performance in the Post-classical Mediterranean”
Cogut Center for the Humanities, Brown University
Website: http://culturesofperformance.weebly.com
2012 | Gorgias Press Book Grant Program, Semi-Finalist
INVITED LECTURES
2020 | “Where the Nations Come Together? Religious Diversity and Ritual Transfer in Late Antique Pilgrimage and Festival Culture”
Elizabeth A. Clark Center for Late Antique Studies
Duke University, February 17, 2020
2018 | “Ritual Confusion and Violence in the Processions of Late Antique Constantinople”
Moving through time: processions from the classical past to Byzantium
University of London, June 6, 2018
2018 | “Violence, Religion, and Writing History”
Keynote, Department of Religion Undergraduate Research Symposium
Florida State University, April 27, 2018
2017 | “Converting Bodies: Ritual Mutilation in Late Antique Religious Conflict,”
Torture, Abuse, and Desecration in the Name of Religion: Visions, Actions, Justifications (Symposium)
Brown University, May 7–9, 2017
2016 | “‘For Nothing So Moves the Soul’: St. John Chrysostom on Mimesis and the Force of Ritual Habit”
Creighton University, September 20, 2016
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
2018 | “Your Brother’s Blood Drips From Your Hand: the Punishment of Cain in Rabbinic and Syriac Christian Interpretation”
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, November 18, 2018
2018 | “Mutilation and Extra-Lethal Violence in Late Antique Historiography”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 26, 2018
2017 | “He Made the Palace a Monastery: Power, Piety, and the Construction of Orthodoxy under Theodosios II”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 26, 2017
2016 | Panelist, “Civic Space and Ritual Practice in Late Antiquity: New Perspectives,” Religious World of Late Antiquity
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, November 20, 2016
2016 | “The City a Palimpsest: Fifth-Century Historiography and the Rewriting of Arian Violence”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 26–28, 2016
2015 | “By the World Forgot: Sabbatians and the Manipulation of Memory in Fifth-century Constantinople”
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2015
2014 | “Violence, the Politics of Memory, and Religious Boundaries in Fourth-century Constantinople”
Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium, Brown University, September 16, 2014
2013 | “Dictating Religious Experience: Eusebius’ Ekphrasis on the Church of the Holy Apostles”
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, November 23–26, 2013
2013 | “Pilgrim or Traveler? Constructions of Ancient Christian Pieties”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 23–25, 2013
2012 | “Living Up To Homer: Julian’s Normative Model of Ritual Expression”
North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 24–26, 2012
RELATED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
2018–present | Co-Chair, Religious Competition in Late Antiquity Program Unit, Society of Biblical Literature
2016–present | Steering Committee, Religious Competition in Late Antiquity Program Unit, Society of Biblical Literature
2017 | Awards and Prize Committee, North American Patristics Society
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
North American Patristics Society
Society of Biblical Literature
Society for Classical Studies
Association for Ancient Historians