Headshot of Daniel Zimmerman

dszimmerman@ucsb.edu

See Daniel Zimmerman's CV

About

I am a scholar of Early Christianity, with a special focus on “Gnosticism,” Valentinianism, Sethianism, and the Nag Hammadi Library. My current dissertation project explores the influence of Plato’s Republic on cosmogonical narratives in the Nag Hammadi library. My dissertation committee is composed of Christine Thomas (UCSB, Religion), Elizabeth DePalma-Digeser (UCSB, History), Geoffrey Smith (UT Austin, Religion), and Voula Tsouna (UCSB, Philosophy).

My side interests include linguistics and language acquisition, particularly languages of Northern Europe (e.g., Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German).

Fellowships & Awards

  • President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, University of California (2025–26)
  • Ostad Elahi Fellowship 2025–26, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (2025)
  • Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, University of California (2025)
  • Birger A. Pearson Award, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (2025)
  • Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Dissertation Fellowship, University of California, Santa Barbara (2025; declined)
  • U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship for Norwegian (2024)
  • Max Kade Foundation Fellowship (2024)
  • Fr. Virgil Cordano One-Year Fellowship (2023)
  • Service to the Department (2023)
  • Max Kade Travel Grant (2023)
  • Dumbarton Oaks Coins and Seals Summer Session (2019)
  • Rowny Fellowship (2018)
  • Weiner Prize for Undergraduate Research on Buddhist Practice (2017)
  • Reginald Foster Scholarship for Paideia Institute’s Living Greek in Greece (2017)

Professional Associations

Conference Activity

  • (2025) “A Tale of Two Cities: Reading Jerusalem as Plato’s Republic,” The Society of Biblical Literature’s 2025 Annual Meeting
  • (2025) “In the Beginning the Philosopher Created Numbers: Evaluating the Influence of Neopythagorean and Neoplatonic Numerology in Gnostic Cosmologies,” The Society of Biblical Literature’s 2025 Annual Meeting
  • (2025) “Evaluating the Egyptian Mind in Gnostic Doctrine,” The North American Patristics Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting
  • (2024) “Shifting Discourses of (Non)Authority in Late Antiquity,” The North American Patristics Society’s Annual Meeting
  • (2023) “Using Plato’s Republic to Understand Nag Hammadi Cosmogonies,” The Society of Biblical Literature’s 2023 Annual Meeting
  • (2021) “Victory: Tracing One Symbol’s Numismatic Role from Augustus to Zeno,” 56th International Congress on Medieval Studies
  • (2020) “Victory: Tracing One Symbol’s Numismatic Role from Augustus to Zeno,” 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies (Canceled due to COVID-19)

Courses

  • Fall 2024 Teaching Associate – RGST 127A: Christian Thought and Cultures of the Ancient World
    Fall 2024 – Private Latin Tutoring
  • Fall 2023 Teaching Assistant – FEMST 60: Women of Color: Race, Class, and Ethnicity
  • Spring 2023 Teaching Assistant – ASAM 71 / RGST 71: Introduction to Asian American Religions
  • Winter 2022 Teaching Assistant – RGST 24: Jesus in Comparative Perspectives
  • Fall 2022 Teaching Assistant – EACS 21 / RGST 21: Zen Buddhism
  • Summer (B) 2022 Teaching Associate – RGST 116A: The New Testament and Early Christianity
  • Spring 2022 Teaching Assistant – RGST 63: Witches & Brujxs: Black Magic & (Afro-)Latinx Feminism
  • Winter 2022 Teaching Assistant – RGST 24: Jesus in Comparative Perspectives
  • Fall 2021 Teaching Assistant – EACS 21 / RGST 21: Zen Buddhism
  • Summer (B) 2021 Teaching Associate – RGST 116A: The New Testament and Early Christianity
  • Spring 2020 Teaching Assistant – RGST 20: Introduction to Indic Civilization
  • Winter 2020 Teaching Assistant – RGST 24: Jesus in Comparative Perspectives
  • Fall 2019 Teaching Assistant – EACS 21 / RGST 21: Zen Buddhism

Non-teaching Academic Work

  • UCSB Religious Studies & Jewish Studies Webmaster (2025–present)
  • Religious Studies Undergraduate Liaison – UC Santa Barbara (2022–2024)
  • Research Supervisor – Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program: “Ignored No More” at the University of California, Berkeley, with Diliana Angelova (2020)

Modern Languages

  • English (native)
  • Spanish (advanced)
  • Norwegian (advanced; B2 certified)
  • Swedish (advanced)
  • German (intermediate/advanced)
  • Irish (beginner)
  • French (reading)

Ancient Languages

  • Greek (Attic, Koine)
  • Latin
  • Coptic (Sahidic, Boharic)
  • Old Norse