Overview
My academic background demonstrates my commitment to professional excellence and intellectual leadership.
I earned my honours bachelor’s degree from York University, where I graduated summa cum laude at the top of my class with a double major in Classical Studies and Religious Studies.
Following my undergraduate studies, I completed a master of arts degree from the University of Toronto’s Department for the Study of Religion, a program which is ranked top-ten internationally. My master’s thesis, which focused on private associations in Greco-Roman antiquity, employed Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory as a theoretical framework for examining polyvalent displays of identity in the public sphere. I also completed PhD coursework at York University’s Department of History, where my research focused on culture and identity in Roman Germany.
My academic work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences in North America and Europe. Additionally, my research has won numerous awards, including the prestigious SSHRC Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This scholarship is awarded to the top 3% of master’s level researchers at the University of Toronto. I was also a national finalist for the SSHRC Vanier Graduate Scholarship, the highest award for PhD researchers in Canada.
In addition to my academic education, I have training in web design, desktop publishing, and social media marketing. I also have a certificate in Business and Consulting from York University and a certificate in Strategic Public Relations from the University of Toronto.
View my full academic CV at Academia.edu.
Education
Strategic Public Relations Certificate
University of Toronto (2020)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Major Project: Diversity at the Law Society of Ontario
Doctor of Philosophy
(Coursework Completed, 2017-2018)
Department of History York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Master of Arts
Department for the Study of Religion
University of Toronto (2017)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Thesis: “The Public Lives of Private Cults: Dionysiac Associations in the Roman East”
Honours Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude
Double major: Religious Studies/Classical Studies
York University (2015)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Associate of Arts Degree, Cum Laude
Concentration: Political Science
Moraine Valley Community College (2000)
Palos Hills, Illinois, USA
Languages
English, German, Classical Greek, Latin
Refereed Journal Articles
Fallen Soldiers and the Gods: Religious Considerations in the Retrieval and Burial of the War Dead in Classical Greece
The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, Vol. 21, no. 1, 2019.
Defixiones and the Temple Locus: The Power of Place in the Curse Tablets at Mainz
This academic article was published in the rigorously peer-reviewed journal Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 12, no. 3, 2017.
“Orientalism in Iamblichus’ The Mysteries“
The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies Vol. 15, nos. 1-2, 2013.
Chapters in Edited Volumes
“The Martyrdom of Zechariah.” Co-authored with Tony Burke. In New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Volume 3. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Michigan: Eerdmans, 2023.
Conference Presentations
“Rogo Te ut Me Vindices: A Social Demography of Cursing at Mogontiacum,” at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society for Classical Studies.
“Defixiones and the Temple Locus: Illicit Practices, Religious Agencies,” at the Sixth International ESSWE Conference, Universität Erfurt, Germany.
“Refutatio Romana: The Political Dimensions of Religious Difference in Tactitus’ Histories 5.5,” at the Department of Classics & Religion Graduate Student Conference, University of Calgary.
“Two Martyrdoms of John the Baptist,” paper co-presented (with Tony Burke) at the annual Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Conference, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
“Disenchantment of the Vampire: Balkan Folklore’s Deadly Encounter with Modernity,” paper presented at the Association for the Study of Esotericism Conference, Hamilton, New York (2014).
Book Reviews
Edward J. Watts, The Final Pagan Generation (University of California Press, 2015) in Journal of Late Antiquity, Vol. 9, No.1 (Spring 2016). ( Read Here)
Marco Pasi, Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics (Durham: Acumen Publishing, 2013) in The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 16, no. 1 (2014). ( Read Here)
Scholarships and Awards
2019 Ted Rogers Graduate Award
2018-2019 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)
2018 National Finalist, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Vanier Graduate Scholarship
GMCA Case Competition Winner, 2018
2016 Awarded the CSSR MA Essay Prize for “Refutatio Romana: The Political Dimensions of Religious Alterity in Tacitus’ Histories 5,” 2015
2015 Awarded a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to facilitate research into Dionysiac cult
2015 Awarded the 2014-2015 Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies Essay Prize, Honourable Mention for Research, an award recognizing outstanding examples of expository writing
2015 Vanier College Convocation Prize in Classical Studies and Religious Studies, given to the student who has achieved the highest GPA in these programs
2015 Vingt-deux Master’s Honour Roll award, given to the twenty-two students with the highest cumulative grade point average
2015 Vanier College Council 50th Anniversary award, awarded to a student who has demonstrated commitment to the Vanier College student body and/or the community
2015 Dean’s Honour Roll, York University
2014 Awarded the York University Faculty Association Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship, which is given to the student with the highest GPA in their faculty
2014 Awarded a York University Continuing Student Scholarship, a merit-based award for academic excellence (This is the third consecutive year in which I was awarded this scholarship.)
2014 Sessional Academic Achievement List
2013 Awarded the William R. Coleman Prize for the best essay written by an honour student in a humanities or religious studies course
2013 Awarded the 2012-2013 Classics Award, given to the most promising student in Greek or Latin
2013 Sessional Academic Achievement List
2012 Awarded the Israel Mida and Family Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies
2012 Admitted to the Dean’s Circle of Student Scholars, a designation given to those in the faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Sciences with a grade point average of 90% or higher
2012 Sessional Academic Achievement List
2011 Admitted to the Golden Key Honour Society
2011 Sessional Academic Achievement List
1999 Phi Theta Kappa National Honour Society
Professional Activities
Co-Director, Network for the Study Esotericism in Antiquity AncientEsotericism.org(2013-2019)
Assistant to the Collections Manager, research and cataloguing of 18th Century Russian Icons, University of Toronto Art Museum. (2016)
MA Representative, Department for the Study of Religion Graduate Students’ Association, University of Toronto. (2015-2016)
Research Assistant for Philip A. Harland, indexing and proofreading of manuscript, Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, Translations, and Commentary. II. North Coast of the Black Sea, Asia Minor. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014. (2014)
Colloquium Coordinator, Ancient Abbeys of Brittany Project Colloquium, “Cistercians and Canons Regular in Medieval Brittany, Normandy, England and Wales.” (2014)
Peer Advisor, Vanier College, York University. (2012-2014)
Conference Coordinator, York Christian Apocrypha Symposium, “Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier.” (2013)
Undergraduate Representative, Tenure and Promotion Committee, Humanities Department, York University. (2013)
Coordinator of weekly chemistry colloquia, which involved arranging travel and accommodations for guests; scheduling of on-site meetings; and production of promotional literature. (2010)
Guest Lecturer, Continuing Education Writing Course, Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ontario. (2005-2006)
Other Related Work
Project Management Professional (PMP) ® certification, 2024 Project Management Institute.
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
®, 2024 Project Management Institute.
Foundation Business Classes, 2019 Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University (Toronto).
Social Media Marketing & Brand Management Bootcamp, 2019 Ryerson University (Toronto).
Certificate, Transcultural Approaches to Epigraphic and Archaeoloigcal Sources, 2018 Georg August Universität (Göttingen, Germany).
Certificate in Business and Consulting, 2018 York University (Toronto).