William Klingshirn's Headshot

Department

  • Greek and Latin
  • School

  • School of Arts and Sciences
  • Biography

    Professor Klingshirn has taught the history and culture of the late antique Mediterranean world at Catholic University since 1985. His current research is focused on divination in late antiquity, lived religion in the early middle ages, and Latin literatures of medicine, divination, and magic in the sixth and seventh centuries AD.

    Professor Klingshirn has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (1988-89; 2006-07) and the American Council of Learned Societies (2000-01). He is past president of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States (CAAS) and a member of the editorial committee of Translated Texts for Historians. From 2007 to 2013 he served on the Board of Editors of Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought and Religion. He now serves on the editorial board (Doctorum Collegium) of the journal Latinitas (series nova), published by the Pontifical Academy for Latin. A CUA faculty member since 1985, he has taught a wide range of courses in classics, ancient history, Latin, Greek, early Christianity, and late antiquity. He currently serves as Director of CUA's Center for the Study of Early Christianity. He is a Fellow (sodalis) of the Pontifical Academy for Latin and a Corresponding Member of the Académie d'Arles, founded in 1666. In 2015 he was honored with an ovatio by the Classical Association of the Atlantic States.

    Publications

    • My Lots are in Thy Hands: Sortilege and its Practitioners in Late Antiquity

      My Lots are in Thy Hands: Sortilege and its Practitioners in Late Antiquity

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    • The Early Christian Book

      The Early Christian Book

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    • The Limits of Ancient Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus

      The Limits of Ancient Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus

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    • Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testament, Letters

      Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testament, Letters

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    • Caesarius of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul

      Caesarius of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul

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