Christine M. Thomas

Department of Religious Studies
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Tel: (805) 893-4004; Fax: (805) 893-2059
thomas@religion.ucsb.edu

Academic Degrees

B.A. summa cum laude, University of Minnesota (Greek, Ancient History), 1986.

Ph.D., Harvard University (Study of Religion), 1995.

Academic Employment

Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2000-

Assistant Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997-99

Visiting Assistant Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1996-97.

Junior Fellow, Harvard University Society of Fellows, 1993-96.

Teaching Fellow, Harvard University, 1988-93.

Selected Professional Societies and Research Groups

Crisler Ephesos Project, director, 2003-present

Torbali-Metropolis Excavations, Sector Supervisor, 1995-present

International organizer, Second International Symposium on Pisidian Antioch, July 2-4, 2000, Yalvaç (ancient Antioch), Turkey

Consultation on Teaching the Bible in the Twenty-First Century, Wabash Center, 1998-2000

Organizing Committee, First International Symposium on Pisidian Antioch, July 2-4, 1997, Yalvaç (ancient Antioch), Turkey

Co-Chair, Christian Apocrypha Section, Society of Biblical Literature, 1994-99

Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, Draftsperson with the excavations in ancient Ephesos, Turkey, 1991-95

Selected Research Fellowships and Grants

Regents’ Humanities Faculty Fellowship, University of California, 2003-2004.

Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Collaborative Research Grant, 2002-2003.

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Faculty Exchange Fellowship, 2000-2001.

Academic Senate Faculty Research Grant, University of California, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003.

American Philosophical Society, 1998-99.

Faculty Career Development Award, UCSB, 1998-99.

Junior Fellowship, Harvard University Society of Fellows, 1993-96.

Research Grant, American Research Institute in Turkey, 1993-94.

Summer Research Grant, Harvard Graduate Student Council, 1993.

Dissertation Fellowship, Mellon Foundation, 1991-92.

Merit Fellowship, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 1989-90.

Honors and Awards

Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2000.

American Philological Association Graduate Student Award, 1994.

Crum Classics Award, University of Minnesota, 1986.

Phi Beta Kappa, 1985.

Scholarly Publications (excludes public writing)

1992 “Word and Deed: The Acts of Peter and Orality,” Apocrypha 3 (1992) 125-64. Article.

1993 Selahattin Erdemgil et al., Ephesus (Istanbul: Dogü Publications, 1993). Translated book.

1995 “At Home in the City of Artemis: Religion in Ephesos in the Literary Imagination of the Roman Period,” in Helmut Koester, ed., Ephesos Metropolis of Asia: An Interdisciplinary Approach to its Archaeology, Religion, and Culture (1995; Harvard Theological Studies; Cambridge: Harvard University, 2004) 81-117. Article.

1998 “Revivifying Resurrection Accounts: Techniques of Composition and Rewriting in the Acts of Peter cc. 25-28,” in Jan N. Bremmer, ed., The Apocryphal Acts of Peter (Louvain: Peeters, 1998) 65-83. Article.

1998 “Stories Without Texts and Without Authors: The Problem of Fluidity in Ancient Novelistic Texts and Early Christian Literature,” in Ronald Hock, et al., ed., New Perspectives on Ancient Fiction and the New Testament (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998) 273-91. Article.

1998 “The Sanctuary of Demeter at Pergamon: Cultic Space for Women and Its Eclipse” in Helmut Koester, ed., Pergamon Citadel of the Gods (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1998) 277-98, pls. 44-45. Article.

1999 “The Prehistory of the Acts of Peter,” in François Bovon et al., eds., Harvard Studies in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (Religions of the World; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999) 39-62. Article.

1999 with Thomas Drew-Bear, Phrygian Votive Steles (Ankara: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, 1999; distributed, Paris: de Boccard). Book.

1999 “Canon and Antitype: The Relationship Between the Acts of Peter and the New Testament,” Semeia 80 (1997) 185-205. Article.

1999 Ephesus Museum Catalogue (Istanbul: Dogü Publications, 1999). Translated book.

1999 “The Ephesian Ossuaries and Roman Influence on the Production of Burial Containers,” in Herwig Friesinger and Friedrich Krinzinger, eds., 100 Jahre Österreichische Forschungen in Ephesos: Akten des Symposions Wien 1995 (Denkschriften 260; Archäologische Forschungen 1; Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1999) 549-554, pls. 131.3, 4; 132.1-4. Article.

2000 “Bible,” in Wade Clark Roof et al., eds., Contemporary American Religion (New York: Macmillan, 2000). Encyclopedia article.

2002 with Thomas Drew-Bear, Actes du Ier Congrès International sur Antioche de Pisidie (Paris: de Boccard, 2002) 457 pp. Edited book.

2002 “The Acts of Paul as a Source for the Life of Paul,” in Actes du Ier Congrès International sur Antioche de Pisidie (Paris: de Boccard, 2002) 85-92. Article.

2002 François Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary the First Nine Chapters of the Gospel of Luke (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002). From idem, Das Evangelium nach Lukas: Lk 1,1-9,50 (Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 3.1; Zürich/Braunschweig: Benziger; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1989). Translated book.

2003 The Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel: Rewriting the Past (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Book.

2003 “The Scriptures and the New Prophecy: Montanism as Exegetical Crisis,” in D. Warren, E. Brock, et al., eds., Early Christian Voices in Texts, Traditions, and Symbols (Leiden: Brill, 2003) 155-65. Article.

2004 “The ‘Mountain Mother’: The Other Anatolian Goddess at Ephesos,” in Guy Labarre, ed., Les cultes locaux dans les mondes grec et romain (Paris: de Boccard, 2004) 249-62. Article.

2005 “Placing the Dead: Funerary Practice and Social Stratification in the Early Roman Period at Corinth and Ephesos,” in S. Friesen and D. Schowalter, eds., Urban Religion in Roman Corinth: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2005) 281-304. Article.

2006 “Die Rezeption der Apostelakten im frühen Christentum,” Zeitschrift für Neues Testament 18 (2006) 52-63. Article.

2007 entry in James D. Smith III and Philip Sellew, eds., The Fabric of Early Christianity (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2007) 103-6. Essay.

Scholarly Works in Press

“The Ostothekai of Ephesos and the Rise of Sarcophagus Inhumation: Death, Conspicuous Consumption, and the Roman Freedmen,” in G. Koch, ed., Akten des Symposiums “Sarkophag-Korpus 2001” (Sarkophag-Studien; Mainz: Zabern, 2007) 335-344. Article.

Works in Progress

Catalogue of early Roman imperial ostothekai (cremation containers) at Ephesos, to be published by the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften in consort with the Sarkophag-Korpus of Guntram Koch; edited conference volume, Religion in Roman Anatolia: From the Mother Goddess to Christianity for Brill.

Invited Lectures and Conference Presentations (excludes community lectures and television appearances)

“Excavating in Ephesos in Campaign 1991,” Harvard Divinity School, 11 October 1991.

“Asklepios in Pergamon: Evidence of Continued Popularity in the Second Century,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Kansas City, 23 November 1991.

“The Novellization of Marcellus in the Acts of Peter,” Harvard-Yale Day, Harvard Divinity School, 1 May 1992.

“The Round Building in the Pergamene Sanctuary of Asklepios as an Incubation Chamber,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 23 November 1992.

“Where is the Text in This Text? Fluidity in the Alexander Romance and the Apocryphal Acts,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 24 November 1992.

“The Gospel of Thomas and the Sayings of Jesus,” Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 21 January 1993.

“The Karamanlidika Orthographic Tradition,” with Prof. Engin Sezer of Harvard University, Middle Eastern Studies Conference, Research Triangle, North Carolina, 13 November 1993.

“A Woman as Head of Synagogue in Ancient Cappadocia: Six New Jewish Inscriptions,” the Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston, 14 December 1993.

“At Home in the City of Artemis: Religion in Ephesos in the Literary Imagination of the Roman Period,” International Ephesos Symposium, Harvard University, 28 March 1994.

“One Never Steps into the Same River Twice: Response to Robert Stoops, 'Departure to Another Place,'” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Chicago, 20 November 1994.

“Renegotiating the Past: Fixity and Fluidity in the Acts of Peter,” American Philological Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, 29 December 1994.

“The Ephesian Ossuaries and the Influence of Rome,” 100 Jahre Österreichische Forschungen in Ephesos Symposium, Vienna, 13 November 1995.

“The Ephesian Ossuaries and the Rise of the Sarcophagus,” Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, San Diego, 30 December 1995.

“The Acts of Peter Between Novel and History,” Brandeis Seminar on Early Judaism and Christianity, Boston, 8 February 1996.

“Methodological Problems in the Study of Jewish Inscriptions,” Centre Gustave Glotz, Universités Paris I et IV (Sorbonne), Paris, 22 February 1996.

“Scripta Remoratur: A Response to Harry Y. Gamble, ‘On the Tip of the Tongue and the Margin of the Page: Glosses on the Relation of Oral and Written in Early Christianity,’” Plenary Address to the New England Society of Biblical Literature, Cambridge, MA, 29 April 1996.

“Writing, Rewriting, and Textual Authority in Early Christian Literature,” Faculty Colloquium of the Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University, MA, 1 April 1996.

“Revivifying Resurrection Accounts: Rewriting in the Acts of Peter,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, New Orleans, 23 November 1996.

“Paul and the Reflexive Self: A Response to Judith Perkins, The Suffering Self,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, New Orleans, 25 November 1996.

“The Scriptures of the New Prophecy: The Bible and the Montanists,” Harvard University, Divinity School, 17 December 1996.

“The Gospel of Thomas: A Lost Voice in the Christian Tradition,” Williams College, 10 January 1997.

“What Really Happened to Peter? Textual Fluidity and Historical Consciousness in Early Christian Literature,” Cornell University, Ithaca, 31 January 1997.

“The Sanctuary of Demeter at Pergamon: Cultic Space for Women and Its Eclipse,” International Pergamon Symposium, Harvard University, 22 March 1997.

“‘For They Were Forbidden by the Holy Spirit to Speak the Word in Asia’: The Acts of Paul as a Source for the Life of St. Paul,” International Symposium on Pisidian Antioch, Yalvaç, Turkey, 2 July 1997.

“Religious Innovation and Freedmen in the First Century CE: The Case of the Ossuaries at Ephesos,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Francisco, 22 November 1997.

“Sacred Space in the Pauline Communities and 1 Corinthians: Light from Archaeology,” Harvard University, 10 February 1998.

"Visualizing Christianity at Ephesos: The Disjunction of Text and Artifact," Islamic and Near Eastern Studies / Religious Studies Colloquium, University of California, Santa Barbara, 25 February 1998.

"Death and Conspicuous Consumption: Changes in Burial Fashion in Roman-Period Asia Minor," Cultural Analysis Colloquium, University of California, Santa Barbara, 4 March 1998.

Response to François Bovon, “Facing the Scriptures: Intertextuality in the Acts of Philip,” Institute of Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate School, Los Angeles 5 June 1998.

“Jewish Communities in the Eastern Roman Empire: New Epigraphic Evidence,” Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, 12 May 1999.

“The Byzantine Church of Metropolis in Ionia: A Christian Center in the Hinterland of Ephesos," 14. Congressus Internationalis Archaeologiae Christianae, Vienna, 22 September 1999.

“The Renegade Spade: The Limits and Possibilities of Archaeology for New Testament Scholarship in the Twenty-First Century,” Institute of Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate School, Los Angeles, 26 October 1999.

“On Not Finding Small Finds: Spatial Discourse in Early Christianity at Ephesus and Elsewhere,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, 23 November 1999.

“Author, Genre, and Referentiality in Anonymous Early Christian Literature,” Harvard Divinity School, March 2000.

“‘Man Is a Lyre’: Orthopraxy and the Passive Body in the Montanist Heresy,” Conference: Heresies and Orthodoxies: Regulating Identities in Late Antiquity, University of California at Davis, 11 May 2000.

"Of Bodies and Boundaries: The Early Christian Negotiation of Civic Space at Ephesos," Second International Symposium On Pisidian Antioch, Yalvaç, Turkey, 2 July 2000.

“Unmarked Places: The Early Christian Use of Space and Its Rhetoric,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Nashville, 20 November 2000.

“The Metroon at Ephesus in the Light of Epigraphy,” Centre Gustave Glotz, Universités Paris I et IV (Sorbonne), 16 May 2001.

“The ‘Hillside Mother’: The Other Anatolian Goddess at Ephesos,” Conference: Les cultes locaux dans les mondes Grec et Romain, Lyon, France, 7 June 2001.

“The Ephesian Ostothekai and the Beginnings of Sarcophagus Production,” Symposium des Sarkophag-Corpus, Marburg, Germany, 6 July 2001.

“Grave Matters: Roman Power and Funerary ‘Style Wars’ in First-Century Ephesus,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 18 November 2001.

“Placing the Dead: Tombs and Social Stratification at Corinth and Elsewhere,” Urban Religion in Roman Corinth: Interdisciplinary Approaches, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 9 January, 2002.

“Zeus in Town and Country: Polytheism in Asia Minor,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Toronto, 23 November 2002.

“Monotheizing Tendencies in Polytheistic Cult in Roman Asia Minor,” University of Cincinnati, 14 April 2003.

“A Paleo-Christian Church Outside Ephesos,” Archaeological Institute of America, Santa Barbara, California, 22 May 2003.

“Excavation of a Paleo-Christian Church at Metropolis,” First International Symposium on Smyrna, Izmir, Turkey, 22 July 2003.

“Death and Conspicuous Consumption: Archaeological Traces of Roman Power in Funerary Practice at Ephesos,” Lares/ Penates: University of California Study Group for Late Antiquity, Los Angeles, 16 November 2003.

“Religion and the Poor in the Rural Heartland: Votive Dedications of Farm Families in Central Asia Minor,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta, 23 November 2003.

“Christian Narrative as Historical Novel: Audience and Narrative Fluidity in the Acts of Peter,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta, 24 November 2003.

“Archaeological Theory and the Study of Religion: Relating Text and Artifact in Early Christianity,” Colloquium on Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 19 May 2004.

“The Greatest of Human Blessings: Health, the Body, and Life Narrative in Ancient Healing Cults,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas, 20 November 2004.

“Map and Movement in the Urban Space of Ephesos: Static and Dynamic Registers in the Analysis of Sacred Space,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, 19 November 2005.

“Constructions of Space in Early Christianity: Spaces of Representation,” Ancient Borderlands Research Focus Group Colloquium, University of California, Santa Barbara, Monday, 27 February 2006.

“Purity in the Thessalonian Correspondence: Sacred Space, Bodily Practice, and ‘Making a Difference’ in Ancient Mediterranean Religions,” Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate School, Clarement, 26 October 2006.

“Staying Greek in the Roman East: Hybridity as a Cultural Strategy in Civic Religion,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, 18 November 2007.

“Hidden Spaces and Utopias: Spatial Discourse and Practice as Early Christian Identity-Markers,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, 20 November 2007.

“Deploying Greek Heritage in Roman Corinth: Uncovering Hybrid Identities in the Archaeology of Traditional Cult,” Corinth in Context: Comparative Perspectives on Religion and Society, Austin, 9 January 2007.