The Committee for the Study of Late Antiquity (CSLA) fosters interdisciplinary discussion and cooperation among University members who study the period extending from 200 to 800 CE in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Comprised of specialists in history, classics, religion, art and archaeology, and Near Eastern studies, the CSLA provides a forum for discussion among students, faculty, visiting scholars, and members of the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton Theological Seminary. The committee also organizes a program of public lectures, often in collaboration with other departments and programs.
The CSLA is under the aegis of the Council of the Humanities.
Upcoming Events - 2024
This talk grapples with the impact of Christian ideas about grace and free will on the sexual exploitation and experiences of women in service in the late antique West. Theological debates in this period shaped how Christians thought about both freedom and sexual consent. What were the implications for women in service, who were sometimes faced…
2024 Medieval Studies Graduate Student Conference
Keynote Lecture: "Ordinary Things: People and their Possessions in Conversations with the Medieval State" by Anne E. Lester, Johns Hopkins University
This paper will toggle between modern and late ancient explanatory frameworks for material disasters, with the goal of gaining further insight into how late Roman authors interpreted how, why, and for what reasons ruinous events like earthquakes, plagues, and urban sieges damaged and disrupted their communities. Among other interventions,…
Announcements - 2024
Applications are now Open.
We would like to invite applications for this year’s Peter R. Brown Prize.
The Committee for the Study of Late Antiquity sponsors the annual Peter R. Brown Prize for the best graduate student essay on any…