Byron MacDougall

Assistant Professor

Byron MacDougall teaches courses on ancient and medieval literatures—especially Ancient and Byzantine Greek literature—and their modern reception. Before coming to RISD, he taught at Brown University, the University of California Davis and Salve Regina University, and he has held research fellowships at Dumbarton Oaks, the University of Vienna and Princeton University. His research focuses on Greek literary, philosophical and religious culture of Late Antiquity and Byzantium. In addition to his first book, Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition (Brill 2022), his work has also been featured in academic journals including Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, American Journal of Philology, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, The Medieval Review, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Journal of Early Christianity, Journal of Late Antiquity, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik and Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies.

Academic areas of interest

ancient, late antique, and medieval literature and book culture, Byzantine Studies, ancient and medieval philosophy, reception studies (especially the reception of ancient philosophy, rhetoric and the Ancient Greek Novel), Early Christianity