Ph.D. in Ancient History
they/them
About
William is currently writing their dissertation, tentatively titled "Roman Sanctuary (400 BCE – 200 CE)," on the concept of sanctuary and refuge in the Roman world. Their dissertation examines refuge in religious, political, and social lenses by seeking to understand the methods and logics that ancient refugees considered when fleeing violence and danger. The first part of their dissertation concerns how Romans sought refuge through speech, outrage over violated sanctuaries, and sacred space. The second part addresses sanctuaries' broader social contexts in the Roman world, through social and international interaction, embodiment theory, and gender and sexual deviance that might occur in sanctuaries.
They received their BA magna cum laude in Classical Languages and Literature and History with High Honors from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May 2017. They completed an honors thesis, Sanctuaries in Cities: Religious Power of Early and Middle Republican Rome, on religion and international relations in Mid-Republican Rome, and also a senior thesis on conceptions of Greek eleutheria in Aristotle's Politics and a selection of Aristophanes's comedies.
William's research interests include Roman religion, constitutional theory of the Roman Republic, and gender and sexuality. In addition to their primary research interests, they are also working on a research project involving Classical reception in Iceland, particularly the 19th century Icelandic home rule movement, Icelandic romanticism, and Jón Sigurðsson—Iceland's founding father and one-time Classical philologist.
They are also a student in the Women Studies Department's LGBTQ Certificate program.
