Put simply, my research considers the ways audiences, both ancient and modern, create and maintain values through classical Greek theater. Understanding plays not simply as poetic texts but also as scripts for performance, my work focuses on the production of the dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes—from a variety of perspectives and in a variety of contexts.
My first book, Ugly Productions: An Aesthetics of Greek Drama, explores the ways ugliness established and mediated genre early in the history of theater. Some of my other scholarly interests include cognition, philosophy and literature, and the reception of classical works, especially in South Africa. I was drawn to drama in no small part because of its creative, interactive, and public-facing nature, and I aspire to bring lessons I’ve learned from theater to my academic writing, teaching, and professional activities.
I’m a proud father, lucky partner, and native Michigander. In what what time remains after work and family, I like to cook, hike, and garden — and catching any UNC Tar Heels games I can.
I received a BA in Classical Literature & Languages and English from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a PhD in Classics and Humanities from Stanford University. From 2012 to 2015 I was Assistant Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at the University of Utah, where I taught courses on drama, mythology, aesthetics, and Greek and Latin language in literature. At the University of North Carolina, I teach classical Greek literature at all levels and certain other courses on ancient Mediterranean culture in translation, such as Pericles and Athens (CLAS 253) and Athletics in the Greek and Roman Worlds (CLAS 263). I have directed, produced, translated, consulted for, and acted in a number of performances of classical drama.
