Judith Perkins (b. 13 June 1944) is

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Emerita of

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

at Saint Joseph College,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. She is an expert on early

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, Latin poetry, and the ancient novel.

Education

Perkins is a trained Classicist. She received her BA in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College 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 South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

. ¹ She received her PhD from the University of Toronto in 1972. Her doctoral thesis was entitled ''Valerius Flaccius; Synonyms and Style''.

Career

In 1976, Perkins was hired to teach Classics at Saint Joseph College, Connecticut (now St Joseph University). where she is now Emerita. In 1979, she attended a National Endowment of the Humanities summer seminar led by Wayne Meeks on the social world of early Christianity at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. The timing of the seminar enabled Perkins to manage childcare responsibilities, and subsequently she combined her research on Classics with early Christianity. Her insistence on bringing the two fields together has been described as 'one of her most significant contributions'. ² Perkins was a long-standing contributor to the International Conference on the Ancient Novel (ICAN), and contributed to the field by mentoring younger scholars ² Perkins authored two important monographs, ''The Suffering Self: Pain and Narrative Representation in the Early Christian Era'', and ''Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era''.''The Suffering Self'' had an 'enormous impact on how scholars of early Christianity understand depictions of the body in pain'. ² ''Roman Imperial Identities'' examines how two cosmopolitan social entities constructed specific identities during the consolidation of the

Roman empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

.The book gave the reader a better understanding of Christianity as a distinct phenomenon and the broader world it inhabited. ² In 2019, Perkins was honoured with a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, The Narrative Self in Early Christianity: Essays in Honor of Judith Perkins'', published by the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

, and featuring contributions from Virginia Burrus, Kate Cooper, and

Ilaria Ramelli Ilaria L. E. Ramelli (born 1973) is an Italian-born historian, academic author, and university professor who specializes in ancient, late antique, and early mediaeval philosophy and theology. Life Ilaria Ramelli was born in Piacenza in 1973. ...

Select bibliography

* ''Early Christian and Jewish Narrative: The Role of Religion in Shaping Narrative Forms'', edited by

and Judith Perkins, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015. *''The Ancient Novel and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative: Fictional Intersections'' (Barkhuis, 2013) * (ed. by Donald Lateiner, Barbara K. Gold, and Judith Perkins) ''Roman Literature, Gender and Reception'' (Routledge, 2013) * ''Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era'' (Routledge, 2008) * ''Ancient Fiction and Early Christian Narrative'' (Society of Biblical Literature, 1998) * ''The Suffering Self: Pain and Narrative Representation in the Early Christian Era'' (Routledge 1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Judith Living people American women classical scholars American Latinists Mount Holyoke College alumni Members of the Jesus Seminar 1944 births