The Interdepartmental Program in Ancient History (IPAH; formerly the Interdepartmental Program in Greek and Roman History) is a doctoral program jointly sponsored by the Departments of History and Classical Studies. Our core faculty of 10 professors and 26 affiliated faculty members cover almost every facet of the ancient Mediterranean world. We offer exceptional depth in social, political, cultural, and economic history broadly defined, especially the study of religion; science, technology, and medicine; environmental history; intellectual history; gender studies; and papyrology.
Our vision of ancient history is expansive, including the peoples, polities, cultures and religions surrounding the Mediterranean basin from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. We draw strength from our connections to U-M’s Interdepartmental Programs in Classical Art and Archaeology; Anthropology and History; and History and Women’s Studies; as well as the Department of Middle East Studies and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. Our goal is to provide students with rigorous training in the traditional methods of classical studies and to develop students’ familiarity with the interpretive perspectives, methodologies, and theories of historical studies. Ultimately, our students are equipped to pursue research projects that speak across disciplinary boundaries in meaningful ways. Students are prepared to obtain jobs in Departments of History, Classical Studies and, depending on their areas of research, also in departments and programs of Religious Studies, Middle East and North African Studies, and History of Science, Technology, and Medicine.
We encourage applications from anyone with a strong commitment to interdisciplinary work on ancient Mediterranean topics and proficiency in two ancient languages. These are usually Latin and ancient Greek, but students may also pair one of these with Coptic, Aramaic, classical Hebrew, classical / middle Arabic, demotic Egyptian, or another ancient language. Applicants should be working at an advanced level in at least one language and at the intermediate level in the other at the time of application. There are some exceptions: we recognize that some ancient languages (e.g, Demotic) are not commonly offered at the undergraduate level; prospective students interested in pursuing one of these should talk to IPAH faculty about this issue prior to their application.
Classical Studies
Aileen Das: ancient medicine, Platonism, the Second Sophistic, the Greco-Arabic translation movement, and classical traditions in the Islamicate World
Sara Forsdyke: Greece; political, social, and cultural history; slavery
Brendan Haug: Greek and Roman Egypt, environmental history, papyrology
Celia Schultz: Rome, social and cultural history, Roman religion, Latin prose
Arthur Verhoogt: Greek and Roman Egypt; socio-economic, administrative, and cultural history; papyrology
Irene Soto Marín: Roman economy, Roman & Late Roman archaeology, Roman & Late Roman Egypt, numismatics, papyrology, ceramics, trade, taxation
History
Anna Bonnell Freidin: Rome, gender, science and medicine, religion
Ian Moyer: Greece and Egypt, cultural and intellectual history, religion
Ellen Muehlberger (shared with Middle East Studies): Late antiquity, early Christianity, Coptic and Syriac texts
Rachel Rafael Neis (shared with Judaic Studies): Late Antiquity, Religion, Judaism, Sexuality and Gender, Science, and Law
Raevin Jimenez: Africa, gender, political economy, comparative historical linguistics
