Kyle Harper is an American historian and classicist who specializes in

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

, particularly that of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. He is a professor of classics and letters at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

(OU), and holds the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. Harper was provost of OU from 2014 to 2020.

Early life and education

Kyle Harper was born on December 29, 1979, in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

. In 2001 he graduated from the

(OU) with a bachelor's degree in letters. In his final year of college Harper was named one of Oklahoma's two finalists for a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

. He went on to earn a MA (2003) and PhD (2007) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Career

Upon graduating from Harvard, Harper was hired as an assistant professor at OU. In 2009 he was named the founding director of OU's Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage. He was promoted to be a full professor of classics and letters in 2014. Harper also worked in university administration and was provost of the university from 2014 to 2020. After stepping down as provost, he returned to the university's academic faculty. In 2021, Harper was named the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. Harper's four books are: ''Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425'' (2011), ''From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity'' (2013), ''The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire'' (2017), and ''Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History'' (2021).Reviews include: * * *

Personal life

Harper has been married since 2007, and as of 2015 had two children. In 2015, Harper and his wife were confirmed as members of the Episcopal Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Kyle University of Oklahoma alumni University of Oklahoma faculty Harvard University alumni Living people 1979 births Historians of antiquity