Catherine Mary Conybeare (born 1966) is an academic and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and an authority on

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

. She is currently Leslie Clark Professor in the Humanities at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

.Catherine Conybeare – Academic Profile
at

Academic career

Conybeare was born in 1966 at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in the United Kingdom and was educated at Oxford High School (1975–1979), Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School (1979–1982), and

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

(1982–1984). She read classics at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

( BA, 1985–1989) and did graduate work in Medieval Studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

(MA, 1991; PhD, 1997) under the supervision of Brian Stock. From 1996 to 2002 she was at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, including three years as a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Classics and Ancient History. In 2002, Conybeare moved back across the Atlantic to take up a position at

, where she was promoted to Full Professor in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies in 2011. She served as Director of the Graduate Group in Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art at Bryn Mawr College (2006–2014), and was appointed Leslie Clark Professor in the Humanities in 2019.Catherine Conybeare – Curriculum Vitae: June 2020
/ref> Conybeare's research centres on the Latin literature and culture of late antiquity, and especially on the writings of

. She has been W. John Bennett Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Pontifical Institute and the

Centre for Medieval Studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. A historian who studies medieval studies is called a medievalist. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening ...

in Toronto, and has also held Visiting Fellowships at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

;

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

and the

Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) is an interdisciplinary research centre within the University of Cambridge. Founded in 2001, CRASSH came into being as a way to create interdisciplinary dialogue across ...

(CRASSH) at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She has been the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships, including from the Guggenheim Foundation, the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

(NEH). Notably, in 2021-22 she led the ACLS-funded project "Greek Drama/Black Lives", which commissioned a new version of ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' from the playwright

James Ijames James Ijames () is an American playwright originally from Bessemer City, North Carolina. He received his B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and earned his MFA in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he is ...

and staged it in a co-production between

and the

Community College of Philadelphia The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is a public community college with campuses throughout Philadelphia. The college was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It offers over 100 associate ...

Publications

Conybeare has published widely on such topics as aurality, touch, violence, emotions and the self. She is the author of ''The Routledge Guidebook to Augustine's Confessions'' (2016); ''The Laughter of Sarah: Biblical Exegesis, Feminist Theory, and the Concept of Delight'' (2013), which examines the place of delight in Jewish and Christian interpretative traditions; ''The Irrational Augustine'' (2006) which charts Augustine's progress from neo-Platonism to incarnational theology in his Cassiciacum dialogues; and ''Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; ; also Anglicisation, anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman Empire, Roman Roman poetry, poet, writer, and Roman senate, senator who attained the ranks of suffect ...

'' (2000), looking at the formation of spiritual community through early Christian letter collections.''Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola''
–

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

– She has edited several collections of essays, including co-editing with Simon Goldhill ''Classical Philology and Theology: Entanglement, Disavowal, and the Godlike Scholar'' (2021). Her book ''Augustine the African'' is a new biography of

which places North Africa at the centre of his life and thought. It will be published by Liveright (US) and Profile (UK) in 2025. Conybeare is also editor of the series from

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 'Cultures of Latin', to which she is contributing a volume entitled ''Latin, Music, and Meaning''.

Personal life

Conybeare has two sons: Gabriel (born 1994) and Hilary (born 2000). She is a keen amateur musician and learns the organ with Parker Kitterman at

Christ Church, Philadelphia Christ Church is an Episcopal church in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1695 as a parish of the Church of England, it played an integral role in the founding of the Protestant Episcopal Chu ...

References

External links

Text of ''The Irrational Augustine''
(2006) –

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Text of ''Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola''
(2000) –

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conybeare, Catherine 1966 births Living people Academics from Bristol People educated at Oxford High School, England People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Classical scholars of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Manchester University of Toronto alumni Bryn Mawr College faculty Fellows of the British Academy Women philologists British classical philologists Scholars of Latin literature Fellows of the American Council of Learned Societies Catherine Mary