University of Calgary

Lindsay Driediger-Murphy

  • Associate Professor

Biography

I completed a BA (Hons.) in Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Calgary (2005), followed by an MPhil (2007) and DPhil (2011) in Ancient History at the University of Oxford, UK. These studies were generously supported by funding from the Government of Alberta, Government of Canada, and the Faculty of Classics and University College, Oxford. I taught as a Stipendiary College Lecturer in Ancient History at Oriel and Jesus Colleges (University of Oxford, 2011-2013) before joining the University of Calgary's Department of Classics and Religion in 2014. I am currently the Department's Local Representative for the Classical Association of Canada, and a member of the Classical Association of Canada's Equity Committee. I am a member of the editorial board of Phoenix.

Research

My research interests include Roman divination, ancient and modern conceptualizations of religion, interactions between religions in antiquity, and Greek and Latin historiography. I have published in such journals as Classical Quarterly; Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies; Phoenix; and Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. My monograph Roman Republican Augury: Freedom and Control, and an edited volume, Ancient Divination and Experience (co-edited with Professor Esther Eidinow) are available from Oxford University Press. My current research projects include a study of 'The Nature of Roman Gods', which was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Graduate Supervision

I am currently accepting Master's and PhD students. I am keen to work with students who want to learn more about the ancient world through close study of the evidence.

At the Master's level, I supervise research on topics such as Greek and Roman religion, ancient divination, and early Christianity.

At the PhD level, I am recruiting students to work on one or more of the following questions:

  1. What did Greeks and Romans believe about the nature of their gods?
  2. In what ways and for what reasons do different genres of Latin literature give different pictures of the gods?
  3. What emotions were aroused by ancient religious practice?

I welcome enquiries from students who would like to work with me. When contacting me, please specify:

  • which of the above topics you would like to work on
  • your previous qualifications (degrees and institutions)
  • the extent of your knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin

 I look forward to hearing from you!

Undergraduate Teaching

I teach courses on gender and sexuality in antiquity (GRST 315), on Greek and Roman 'pagan' and early Christian religions (RELS 385), and on Greek and Roman history and historiography (GRST 205, GRST 499). See the 'Currently Teaching' section for more information.

Currently Teaching

Not currently teaching any courses.

Outreach

I enjoy giving free public lectures to community groups: please email me if you are interested in requesting one.

Selected Publications

- 'Numa and Jupiter: Whose Smile Is It, Anyway?'. 2021. Classical Quarterly 71.1: 259-75. DOI: 10.1017/S0009838821000227.

- Roman Republican Augury: Freedom and Control. 2019. Oxford Classical Monographs. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

- Ancient Divination and Experience. 2019. Co-edited with Esther Eidinow (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Open Access.

- 'Unsuccessful Sacrifice in Roman State Divination'. 2019. In L. G. Driediger-Murphy and E. Eidinow (eds.), Ancient Divination and Experience (Oxford: Oxford University Press): 178-99.

- 'Divination as a Liability in Pompey's Civil War'. 2018. In R. Westall (ed.), The Roman Civil Wars: A House Divided (Hermathena 196-197): 97-117.

- “'Do Not Examine, But Believe?' A Classicist's Perspective on Teresa Morgan's Roman Faith and Christian Faith'. 2018. Religious Studies 54.4: 568-76.

- 'Falsifying the Auspices in Republican Politics'. 2018. In Henriette van der Blom, Christa Gray, and Catherine Steel (eds.), Institutions and Ideology in Republican Rome: Speech, Audience and Decision (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 183-202.

- 'God(s) Contrary to Nature: A Theological Debate Between Pagans and Christians'. 2017. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57.3: 660-86.

- 'Theology as a Historiographic Tool in Dionysius of Halicarnassus'. 2014. Phoenix 68.3-4: 330-49. Winner of the Mary White Prize for the Best Article in Phoenix (Classical Association of Canada) 2014.

- 'M. Valerius Messala to Teos (Syll.3 601) and the Theology of Rome's War with Antiochus III'. 2014. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 189: 115-20.

Powered by UNITIS. More features.