I am an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma. My research and teaching interests focus on Greek and Roman Religions, early Judaism, and early Christianity from the height of the Roman Empire to the end of antiquity. I am particularly interested in the interaction between material culture, landscapes, the built environment, and religious practices.
My past research has focused on archaeological and literary evidence for the veneration of angels among Christians, Jews, and followers of traditional Greek and Roman religions in late antiquity (from about 200-600 CE). That research included studies of the invocation of angels on protective amulets and the production of pilgrimage souvenirs featuring angels — topics which I am still pursuing. My previous publications and a link to my book about angel veneration can be found under the tab “Publications.”
My current projects include a study of the ways in which religious travelers sought proof of the holy places in the late Roman and early Christian periods. That study includes a project that maps pilgrimage souvenirs in the late Roman and early Christian periods using ArcGIS. The was supported in 2017-2018 by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.