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- Detailed Information
Brian P. Sowers
Associate Professor
Classics
Location: 2404 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5000 x6696
Fax: 718.951.4765
Email:
Brian P. Sowers received his MA (2006) and PhD (2008) in Classics at the University of Cincinnati. Before joining the Classics Department at Brooklyn College in 2010, he taught ancient and European history at Northern Kentucky University and ancient religions at Washington and Lee University.
Here at Brooklyn College, he teaches Greek and Latin at all undergraduate levels and on various topics, including Magic in the Ancient World (CLAS 3241); Gender and the Body in Ancient Religions (CLAS 3238); and Ancient Mediterranean Religions (CLAS 3237).
Among his many recognitions as a teacher-scholar, he received Brooklyn College's Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012 and the Feliks Gross Award from the CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences in 2017.
Education:
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati - 2008 (Classics, Early Christianity and Judaism)
M.A., University of Cincinnati - 2006 (Classics)
B.A., University of Evansville - 2001 (Classics, Archaeology, Biblical Studies)
Areas of Expertise:
Dr. Sowers works on late antique literature, early Christianity, ancient religions, ancient female poets, and the intersection of ancient literature and modern Black Studies. He is the author of In Her Own Words: The Life and Poetry of Aelia Eudocia (2020, Center for Hellenic Studies) and is currently writing a book about Plato's cave allegory as metaphor for US racism and white supremacy in the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Martin Luther King Jr., and Huey P. Newton.
Books and Publications
"Violating Vergil's Corpus: The Penetrated Body in Cento Literature," in The Body Unbound: Literary Approaches to the Classical Corpus, edited by David Schur, Katherine Lu Hsu, and Brian P. Sowers. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2021, 167-191 (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2021
The Body Unbound: Literary Approaches to the Classical Corpus, edited with David Schur and Katherine Lu Hsu. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2021
"Caught in Ausonius' Net: Self-Reflection and Poetic Circulation in Late Antiquity," in Literature Squared: Self-Reflexivity in Late Antique Literature, edited by J. Hernández Lobato and O. Prieto Domínguez. Studi e Testi Tardoantichi: Profane and Christian Culture in Late Antiquity 18. Turnhout: Brepols, 2020, 255-275 (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2020
"Christianity Re-sexualized: Intertextuality and the Early Christian Novel," co-authored with Kimberly Passaro, in Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient World, edited by Allison Surtees and Jennifer Dyer. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020, 185-196 (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2020
"Herculean Centos: Myth, Polemics, and the Crucified Hero in Late Antiquity," in Heracles Inside and Outside the Church: From the First Apologists to the End of the Quattrocento, edited by Arlene Allan, Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and Emma Stafford. Leiden: Brill, 2020, 94-115. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2020
"Prison, Where is Thy Victory? A Black Panther Theology of Mass Incarceration" Harvard Theological Review 113:1 (2020) 24-44 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2020
In Her Own Words: The Life and Poetry of Aelia Eudocia. Hellenic Studies 80. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies (Harvard University Press) (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2020
"Historiolae: Narrative Charms in Magical Texts and Literature in Late Antiquity" History of Religions 56:4 (2017) 426-448 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
"The Socratic Black Panther: Reading Huey P. Newton Reading Plato" Journal of African American Studies, 21:1 (2017) 26-41 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
"Amicitia and Late Antique Nugae: Reading Ausonius' Reading Community" American Journal of Philology 137.3 (2016) 511-540 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2016
"Pudor et Dedecus: Rhetoric of Honor and Shame in Perpetua's Passion" Journal of Early Christian Studies 23:3 (2015) 363-388 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2015
"Thecla Desexualized: The Saint Justina Legend and the Reception of the Christian Apocrypha in Late Antiquity" "Non-canonical" Religious Texts in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Eds. James H. Charlesworth and Lee M. McDonald. New York: T&T Clark International. 222-34. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2012
"Retelling and Misreading Jesus: Eudocia's Homeric Cento." Breaking Boundaries: Female Biblical Interpreters Who Challenged the Status Quo. Eds. Nancy Calvert-Koyzis and Heather Weir. New York: T&T Clark International. 14-33. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2010
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Faculty Fellow in support of "Classica Africana: Black Readings of the Classics," Faculty Fellowship Publication Program, CUNY (Grants and Fellowships) 2018
PSC-CUNY Research Award ($4300) in support of "Poetic Production and Circulation in Late Antique Gaul: Ausonius' Literary Community," CUNY (Grants and Fellowships) 2018
Tow Faculty Travel Fellowship ($2000) in support of "Poetic Production and Circulation in Late Antique Gaul: The Case of Ausonius' Literary Community" (Grants and Fellowships) 2018
William Stewart Travel Award in support of "Ausonius' Metaliterary Games: Self-Reflection in the Griphus and Technopaignion" (Grants and Fellowships) 2018
Feliks Gross Award for outstanding scholarship, CUNY (Awards and Honors) 2017
Mellon Faculty Fellow in support of "African American Literature and the Classical Tradition," CUNY Mellon Faculty Diversity Career Enhancement Initiative, CUNY (Grants and Fellowships) 2017
Oxford University Travel Grant in support of "Recovering Ausonius' Ludic and Encyclopedic Voice," Oxford University (Grants and Fellowships) 2017
PSC-CUNY Research Award ($3500) in support of "African American Literature and the Classical Tradition" (Grants and Fellowships) 2017
Tow Faculty Travel Fellowship ($1000) in support of "Aelia Eudocia: The Making of a Homeric Christian" (Grants and Fellowships) 2017
William Stewart Travel Award in support of "Recovering Ausonius' Ludic and Encyclopedic Voice," CUNY (Awards and Honors) 2017
PSC-CUNY Research Award ($3500) in support of "Late Antique Play or Ausonius' Handbook to Writing a Cento" (Grants and Fellowships) 2016
CAAS (Classical Association of Atlantic States) Travel Subsidy Award ($660) (Awards and Honors) 2015
PSC-CUNY Research Award ($3500) in support of "Amicitia and Late Antique Nugae" (Grants and Fellowships) 2015
Dean's Curriculum Initiative Grant ($1,500), Brooklyn College (Grants and Fellowships) 2013
Excellence in Teaching Award ($5,000), Brooklyn College. (Awards and Honors) 2012
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Everyone's a Critic: Ausonius on His Coterie and Its Etiquette," Lector, quas patieris hic salebras! The Stumbling Texts (and Stumbling Readers) of Late Latin Poetry, Universität Basel (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2021
"Interminable Delay: Patiently Waiting for Justice in a Society Committed to Never Change," Religious Studies Series on Waiting, Brooklyn College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2021
"The Souls of Black Panthers: Socratic Metaphors for Racial Liberation in W. E. B. Du Bois and Huey Newton," W. E. B. Du Bois and the Ancient Mediterranean, Penn State University (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2021
"From Witches to Martyrs: Exceptional Women in Ancient Mediterranean Religions," Bluhm Scholar Colloquium, Hunter College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2020
"Research Perspectives in Late Latin Poetry," LAMEM Colloquium, Brooklyn College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2020
"Socratic Metaphors for Racial Injustice: Plato's 20th Century Cave," The Australasian Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2020
"From Ancient Letters to Instagram: How Cuisine in Social Media Feeds Friendship," Latin/Greek Institute Fall Fundraiser (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2019
"Ausonius Epitomist: Encyclopedism and Ordering Knowledge in Late Antique Gaul," Epitome. From Fragmentation to Recomposition (and Back Again), Academia Belgica, Rome (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Encyclopedism in Late Antiquity," LAMEM Colloquium, Brooklyn College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Expunging Originality: Alexandrian Critics in Late Antique Gaul," Origins and Original Moments in Late Antique Literature, Fordham University (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2018
"Literary Etiquette in Late Antique Gaul: Ausonius' Circle," Columbia University (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2018
"Literary Narratives in Ausonius' Epistles," Epistula narrans: Narrative Modelling in Latin Epistolography, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Poetic Production and Circulation in Late Antique Gaul: Ausonius' Literary Community," Tow Foundation Awards Presentation Luncheon, Brooklyn College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Rending the Veil of Injustice: American Cave Prisoners and Ancient Christian Martyrs in Conversation," Shut up in Darkness: Exposing Slavery and Injustice in Religious Texts, Brooklyn College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Ausonius' Metaliterary Games: Self-Reflection in the Griphus and Technopaignion," Literature Squared: Metaliterary Reflections in Late Antiquity, 5th Annual Conference of the International Society for Late Antique Literary Studies, University of Salamanca (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"Black Philosophical Power: Plato's Cave Allegory as Civil Rights Metaphor," Tulane University (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
"Recovering Ausonius' Ludic and Encyclopedic Voice," Voices in Late Latin Poetry, Oxford University (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"Socratic Social Justice, Platonic Freedom Fighters: Reading DuBois, King, and Newton," Bluhm Scholar Colloquium, Hunter College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
"The Making of a Black Panther: Plato's Influence on Huey P. Newton," LAMEM Colloquium, Brooklyn College
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"The Socratic Black Panther: Reading Huey P. Newton Reading Plato," The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Annual Meeting (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"What Ancient Wizards and Witches Can Teach Us in 2017," Poly Prep Country Day School 2017 Cum Laude Dinner (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
"Common Texts, (un)Common Aesthetics: The Greek and Latin Cento in Dialogue," Ghent University (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2016
"Violating Vergil's Corpus: The Penetrated Body in Cento Literature," The Body Unbound: Literary Approaches to the Classical Corpus, Brooklyn College (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2016
"Incantations and Magic: The Ritual Roots of the Medical Humanities," CUNY Science Retreat (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"Magic and Counter-Magic in Early Christian Literature," The University of Arizona, February 2015 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"Magical Mass or Mass Magic: Narratives of Power in the Late Antique Cult of Saints Justina and Cyprian," Transforming Antiquities, LAMEM Colloquium (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ancient Magic: Early Christian Accounts of Demons, Sorcerers, and the Occult." Bowdoin College. Brunswick, Maine, November. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Cursus Venefici: Cyprian of Carthage and the Journeys of a Late Antique Magician" panel sponsored by the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting. November. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Pudor et Dedecus: The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas and the Rhetoric of Public Shaming in the Third Century." Religious Competition in the Third Century: Interdisciplinary Approaches Session. Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting. November. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Women Who Can't Be Moved: The Power of Words and Sight in the Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas." Washington and Lee University. Lexington, Va., December. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Homeric Christianity: Aelia Eudocia and Late Antique Hybrid Poetry." Identity in Ancient Mediterranean Religions Panel (sponsored by the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions), American Philological Association Annual Meeting. January. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2010
Other Professional Activities
Consultant for the History Channel on ancient magic, ancient alchemy and Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost. Appeared in the episode "Magic of the Gods," aired Oct. 21. 2013
