The Medieval Studies Institute

My teaching and research lie at the intersections of Religious Studies, Ancient History, Classical Studies, Philosophy, and Literature. My courses focus on the cultural, social, and literary histories of religion and religions in the late-ancient and early medieval Mediterranean and Near East. I encourage an eclectic approach to the study of ancient religions, encouraging students to consider the ways in which different theories and methods—traditional and avant-garde—can inform one another.

At present, I am focused on the history of textuality—ways of thinking and doing the work of reading, writing, and interpreting. I am currently completing a monograph, Eusebius of Caesarea: Textuality and Tradition in Late Ancient Christianity. Because so much of what we know of the first three centuries of Christian history is mediated through Eusebius’ work, his triuphalist narrative has cast a long shadow on the study of early Christianity and late-ancient history. My study focuses on Eusebius as a reader and a writer to reveal the extent to which he developed innovative ways of addressing the practice and theory of reading and writing. I draw on theories of intertextuality, post-colonial theory, and contemporary theoretical work on the history of books and reading to situate Christian literary production in relation to a complex constellation of forces at work in the early fourth century.

I am also at work on a new English translation of and commentary (the first full commentary in English) on Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History (HE). The translation will make this text accessible to new generations of students. While previous generations of scholarship approached the HE as an almost timeless, globalizing text, this volume will emphasize placing Eusebius’ work within its immediate social, literary, and political contexts. In addition, I am pursuing ways that digital technologies may supplement/complement this project.

I welcome and encourage prospective graduate students to contact me via email if they would like to discuss graduate study.