Ancient Grain, New Research

December 10, 2019 by DSR Communications

Congratulations to Christina Gousopoulos, winner of a 2019 Undergraduate Excellence Award, whose research over the summer has resulted in her paper being accepted to a top-tier journal.

Christina's research contributes to our understanding of social associations in early Christianity. Building on the research of DSR professor John Kloppenborg, Christina examines the role of village administrators like tax collectors and granary managers in spreading literary knowledge in the ancient world. Such administrators were a link between elite readers of Greek and the sub-elite members of society. Before the legalization of Christianity in the Roman empire, such administrators may have been key in spreading knowledge about Christian texts and teachings.

Christina's article, titled "Sub-Elite Readers and the Transmission of Christian Literary Texts," will appear in the peer-reviewed journal Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses in late 2020.

Christina's research was facilitated in part by the University of Toronto Undergraduate Excellence awards. Undergraduate winners of these awards are funded for a summer to work with a professor in their area of interest. As an awardee, Christina is one of the youngest students in the DSR to publish her research in a top-tier journal. Congratulations, Christina!

Photo of Christina Gousopoulos

Christina Gousopoulos, undergraduate student at the DSR