Junior Professor Dr. Blossom Stefaniw

Junior Professor for Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity

1. Biography

• since April 2011 Junior Professor Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity Evangelische Theologie Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
• 2010-2011 DAAD PostDoc Fellow Centre for the Study of Antiquity and Christianity, Aarhus University, Denmark
• 2009-2010 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin Universität Erfurt, Religionswissenschaft
• 2008 PhD in Religious Studies Universität Erfurt,
• 2004 Master of Theology (MTh) in Church History University of Wales, Lampeter (GB)
• 2000 Diploma in Classical Studies Open University (GB)
• 1999 Bachelor of Arts Wheaton College (USA)  

2. Fields of Research

• Ethische Bildung im 3. und 4. Jahrhundert
• Charisma und religiöse Autorität
• Askese, Mönchtum, Philosophie
• Biografie und Historiografie
• Antonios, Evagrios, Origenes, Gregorios Thaumaturgos
• Theorie und Methodologie in Religionsgeschichte  

3. Current Research Projects

• Aufbau des Mainzer Forschungsbereichs Ethik in Antike und Christentum  
• Sages and their Custodians in Late Antiquity (Buchprojekt)  

4. Memberships

• North American Patristics Society
• Society for Biblical Literature
• Society for Late Antiquity
• Gesellschaft für antike Philosophie  

5. Publications (Selection)

Monographs  

• Mind, Text, and Commentary: noetic exegesis in Origen of Alexandria, Didymus the Blind, and Evagrius Ponticus.  David Brakke, Anders-Christian Jacobsen and Jörg Ulrich eds. Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity, vol. 6. Peter Lang, 2010.    

Peer-Reviewed Articles  

• ‘Evagrius and Authority’ in Evagrius and His Legacy. Robin Darling Young and Joel Kalvesmaki, eds. Notre Dame University Press, 2012 (at press).  
• ‘Exegetical Curricula in Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius: Pedagogical Agenda and the Case for Neoplatonist Influence’, Procedings of the 15th International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2007, Studia Patristica XLIV (2010): 281-294.  
• ‘Becoming Men, Staying Women: Gender Ambivalence in Christian Apocryphal Texts and Contexts’, Feminist Theology 18.3 (2010): 341-355.  
• ‘Reading Revelation: Allegorical Exegesis in Late Antique Alexandria’, Revue de l'histoire des religions, 224.2 (2007): 231-251.  
• ‘Evagrius Ponticus on Image and Material’, Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 42.2 (2007): 125-135.  
• ‘Spiritual Friendship and Bridal Mysticism in an Age of Affectivity’, Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 41.1 (2006): 65-78.    

Essays in Conference Volumes  

• ‘Gregory Taught, Gregory Written: the effacement and definition of individualization in the Address to Origen and the Life of Gregory the Wonderworker’ in Reflections on Religious Individuality, Jörg Rüpke and Wolfgang Spickermann, eds. de Gruyter, 2012, pp. 119-144.
• ‘Teaching in the Church and Preaching at School: Origen’s homiletic and pedagogical practice in Alexandria and Caesarea’ in Early Church Homilies as Locus Theologicus, Johan Leemans, ed. Peeters, Leuwen, 2011 (at press).    

Contributions to Handbooks  

• ‘Athanasius und Serapion von Thmuis’, ‘Epistula ad Monachos’, ‘Epistula ad Serapionem de morte Arii’, ‘Schriften zur Pneumatologie: Epistulae ad Serapionem 1-4’ in Das Athanasius Handbuch, hrsg. von Peter Gemeinhardt Theologen Handbücher. (Mohr Siebeck, 2011) pp. 206, 208, 251.      

Book Reviews  

• Paul, the Corinthians and the Birth of Christian Hermeneutics by Margaret M. Mitchell. (Cambridge University Press, 2010) in Journal of Early Christian Studies 20.1 (2012): 172-174.
• Iamblichus of Chalcis: The Letters. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by John M. Dillon and Wolfgang Polleichtner. Society of Biblical Literature. Writings from the Greco-Roman World Number 19, 2009 in Review of Biblical Literature, June 2011 (online).  
• Nicht wie die Heiden: Studien zur Grenze zwischen christlicher Gemeinde und paganer Gesellschaft in vorkonstantinischer Zeit von Christine Mühlenkamp. Journal of Ecclesiastical History 61.2 (2010)