Chris Atkins
Chris is a Ph.D. candidate in Classics and Religious Studies. His dissertation, supervised by Brad Inwood and Laura Nasrallah, explores intersections between ritual practice and philosophical discourse from the late 5th c. BCE to the 2nd c. CE. The dissertation draws on inscribed ritual objects, papyri, and literary and philosophical texts to explore the interplay between lived religion and philosophical piety across a broad cross-section of society and among Greeks, Romans, Jews, Christians, and Egyptians.
Chris has presented his research at the Society of Biblical Literature, the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religion, and the Society for Classical Studies, and has published articles in journals such as Harvard Theological Review, New Testament Studies, and the Studia Philonica Annual. His presentations and publications have examined modes of interpreting sacred texts and scriptures in Jewish and Christian antiquity; interethnic relations among Jews and Egyptians in Roman Alexandria; conceptions of the soul, cosmos, and divinity between Platonists, Stoics, Jews, and Christians; ritual incantations, curse tablets, and mystery cults; self-referentiality and reading practices in New Testament writings; and Plato and Athenian religious culture.
At Yale, he has facilitated the Ancient Judaism Seminar, the Divinity School Colloquium, and the Classics Works in Progress Seminar. His research has been supported by fellowships from Archaia, the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, and the Program in Jewish Studies. He has taught courses on the New Testament and early Christianity, ancient Judaism, medicine and disease in Greco-Roman antiquity, and Greek language and literature.
Email: chris.atkins@yale.edu