About me
I am a historian of the late ancient Mediterranean. I have earned a B.A. in Medieval History and an M.A. in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies from King’s College London. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California Santa Barbara. My teaching and research interests broadly embrace topics pertaining to the history of philosophy, spirituality, and society in the Mediterranean and Middle East from the 1st– 5th centuries CE.
My dissertation research looks specifically at the archive of Oxyrhynchus, a middling-sized Roman town some 130 miles south of modern Cairo. This "city of the sharp-nosed fish", though not so remarkable in its own time, has become famous to scholars of Mediterranean antiquity thanks to the many thousands of papyrus fragments (a thick sort of paper made from papyrus stalks) excavated there from 1898-1934. However, despite the fame of the Oxyrhynchus papyri, the city hardly receives focus as an object of inquiry in its own right. My research will aid in the building of a social and historical picture of this city.
What’s more, the Oxyrhynchus papyri, though an immense collection, is an incomplete archive. Many scholars working with the papyri have been told by prior excavators and papyrologists that there is no other trace of the ancient city left; this is simply not the case. The site has hosted nearly annual excavation work by a joint Calatan-Egyptian team since 1992 and their findings have added fascinating dimensions to the Oxyrhynchus we know from the papyri. I join a growing number of scholars seeking to consider papyri not as abstract texts but as text-bearing objects in assemblages with other objects.
My research looks at a specific kind of object—the amulet—as entangled in social networks with other objects, people, places, institutions, and divinities. Through analysis and interpretation of these social networks, my work explores one small corner of the Oxyrhynchite social world: the space of lived religion in the late ancient Egyptian metropolis.
Education
M.A. Department of Classics, King’s College London, 2017
B.A. Department of History, Cornell College, 2016
Fellowships, Grants, & Awards
2024 Excellence in Teaching Award - UCSB Graduate Student Association
——— Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship ($10,833, tuition, fees) - UCSB Graduate Division
——— Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant ($2,704) - UCSB Graduate Division
——— Graduate Student Dissertation Support Grant ($1,000) - UCHRI & UC Office of the President
——— Lawrence Badash Prize ($1,200) - UCSB History Associates
——— Doctoral Student Travel Grant ($900) - UCSB Academic Senate
——— Annual Van Gelderen Endowed Lecturer ($500) - UCSB History Associates
2023 Esmé Frost Fellowship ($2,500) - UCSB History Associates
——— Conference Travel Grant ($800) - UCSB Dept. of History
2019 Dumas Travel Scholarship ($1,000) - UCSB Dept. of Classics
——— Harold and Kathleen Drake Award ($2,200) - UCSB History Associates
——— Research Travel Grant ($1,400) - UCSB Dept. of History
——— Summer Scholarship Package (Tuition, Room, Board, Travel) - Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
2018 Late Ancient Studies Fellowship ($207,800) - University of California Press & UCSB Dept. of History
——— Thomas N. Sizgorich Memorial Award ($5,000) - UCSB History Associates
2017 Byzantine Greek Study Scholarship ($1,000, Room) - Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Conference Activity
Conferences Convened
2023 Shifting Frontiers XV: Romans in New Worlds; Co-Organizer w/ Elizabeth DePalma Digeser; UCSB & SBMAL, September 21–24
2019 Studies in Late Antiquity Conference & Board Meeting; Co-Organizer w/ Elizabeth DePalma Digeser; UCSB, May 10
Panels organized
2024 “Shifting Discourses of (Non)Authority in Late Antique Patristics” - North American Patristics Society, May 23–25
Papers Presented
2024 “Athanasius’ Demon-Monks: P.Oxy. 924, 5306, & 5307 through a Patristic Lens” - Oxford Patristic Studies, August 5–9
——— “Christian Amulet-Makers? Authority and Ritual in Late Ancient Oxyrhynchus” - North American Patristics Society, May 23–25
2023 “Reframing the Archive: Towards a Social History of Oxyrhynchus” - SBL Annual Meeting, November 18–21
——— “Visible Amulets, Secret Prayers: Ritual Experts and Social Control in Late Antiquity” - SBL Annual Meeting, November 18–21
——— “From Papyri to People: Telling Oxyrhynchus' Social History through the Amulets” - Friends of Ancient History, November 4
2017 “Balancing Religious Interests in Constantine’s Forum” - University of Birmingham CBOMGS Graduate Colloquium, June 3
——— “Ho Pneumatikos Adelphos: The Language of Hierarchy in Byzantine Diplomacy” - OUBS International Graduate Conference, February 24–25
Campus & Departmental Talks
2024 “Protect the One Who Carries You: Amulets and Daily Life in Roman Egypt” - 11th Annual Van Gelderen Graduate Student Lecture, UCSB, April 19
——— “Ancient Anxiety and the Amulets: Daily Life in Egypt through the Lens of Magic” - Graduate Division 12th Annual Grad Slam, UCSB, March 20
2023 “Miniature Codex, Missionary Amulet: The Cologne Mani Codex” - Dept. of Religious Studies, UCSB, April 19
——— “Reforming the Archive: Towards a Social History of Oxyrhynchus” - Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, UCSB, March 20
Teaching Experience
Instructor
Academic Writing (Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Summer 2023)
History of Christianity: Beginnings to 800 CE (Summer 2021, Summer 2022, Fall 2023)
Teaching Assistant
History of Christianity: Beginnings to 800 CE (Spring 2021)
History of Latin America: The National Period (Spring 2024)
Introduction to Mexican History (Spring 2022)
Jesus in Comparative Perspective (Winter 2024)
World History: Prehistory–1000 CE (Fall, 2020, Fall 2021)
World History: 1000–1700 CE (Winter 2022)
World History: 1700 CE–Present (Winter 2021)
Service to the Profession
2021 Online Moderator; GLAS I: Tracing Christians in Global Late Antiquity, May 30–June 2
2020–Pres. Submissions Reviewer, UCSB Undergraduate Journal of History, UCSB
2018–2020 Editorial Assistant, Studies in Late Antiquity: A Journal, University of California Press
University & Departmental Service
2024 Graduate Mentor, Annual DuBois Event, Educational Opportunities, Writing, and Academic Communities of Excellence Programs, UCSB
2023–2024 Lead Teaching Assistant, Dept. of History & Office of Instructional Development, UCSB
2023 Workshop Instructor, Campus-wide Teaching Assistant Orientation, Office of Instructional Development, UCSB
Languages
Ancient/Medieval
Coptic (Sahidic)
Greek (Attic, Koine, Medieval)
Latin (Classical, Medieval)
Modern/Research
Catalan (Reading)
French (Reading)
German (Reading)
Spanish (Speaking & Reading)
Associations
American School of Classical Studies in Athens Alumni/ae Association
American Society of Papyrologists
Association of Ancient Historians
Byzantine Studies Association of North America
Society of Biblical Literature
References
Elizabeth DePalma Digeser
Professor of Roman History & Late Antiquity; Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara; HSSB 4257 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA, 93106-9410; edepalma@history.ucsb.edu
Christine Thomas
Cordano Endowed Chair in Catholic Studies; Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara; HSSB 3067 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA, 93106-9410; cmthomas@ucsb.edu
John W.I. Lee
Associate Professor; Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara; HSSB 4210 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA, 93106-9410; jwilee@history.ucsb.edu
Rose MacLean
Associate Professor; Department of Classics, University of California, Santa Barbara; HSSB 4049 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA, 93106-9410; rmaclean@ucsb.edu
Luke Roberts
Professor of Japanese History; Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara; HSSB 4228 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA, 93106-9410; lukerobt@history.ucsb.edu