Research Students
Kenneth Donovan is working on a part-time PhD on Asceticism in the Early Church. His project is supervised by Christine Trevett and John Watt.
Zachary Esterson is a member of the Latin and Syriac Commentary Project. His AHRC funded PhD is on Victorinus of Poetovio and his role as the first (extant) Latin author who wrote a Biblical commentary (on Revelation). The focus of this project is on Victorinus' sources, his commentarial techniques and his influence on western Biblical exegesis and historical thinking. The PhD is supervised by Josef Lössl and John Watt.
James Harris is currently writing up a part-time MPhil thesis on 'The Relations Between the Christian Dhimmi and Muslims from the Islamic Conquest of the Near East until the Fall of the Abbasid Caliphate'. His project is supervised by Frank Trombley.
Thomas Hunt is in the advanced stages of an AHRC funded PhD on Jerome of Stridon and his teaching on the body and the senses. He has recently published an article on 'Roman Christian Topography and Statements of Christian Identity in Jerome' in CLARC's Journal of Late Antique Religion and Culture (JLARC) and contributed to various graduate conferences. His PhD is supervised by Josef Lössl and Nicholas Baker-Brian.
Victoria Leonard has recently embarked on an AHRC funded PhD project on "Post-colonial and post-imperial discourses in Orosius' Historia adversus Paganos". Her project is supervised by Nicholas Baker-Brian and Josef Lössl.
Heather Ralis is doing a part-time PhD on 'Relics and Pilgrimage in Late Antiquity'. She has recently presented papers at the conference 'Dimensions of Pilgrimage' held on 13 and 14 September 2008 at Canterbury Christ Church University, and at the 2009 Ecclesiastical History Society Conference on 'Saints and Sanctity' held in Durham. Her PhD is supervised by Josef Lössl and Nicholas Baker-Brian.
Elif Tokay is doing a PhD on Gregory of Nazianzus' Theological Orations and their translations into Arabic by Ibrahim ibn-Yuhanna al-Antaki. She is funded by an international studentship granted by the Republic of Turkey. Her project is supervised by Josef Lössl and John Watt.
Michal Zytka is nearing completion of his PhD on 'Baths and Bathing in Late Antiquity' in the context of CLARC's project on 'Scientific Thinking in Late Antiquity'. He is holding a Cardiff University Richard-Whipp-Studentship and has recently given a paper at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds (7-10 July 2008) on 'Natural Springs and their Uses in Late Antiquity'. His PhD is supervised by Josef Lössl and Shaun Tougher.