Dr. Katie Kleinkopf joins the Department of Comparative Humanities
Dr. Katie Kleinkopf
August 1, 2020
We’re pleased to announce that Dr. Katie Kleinkopf has the joined the Department of Comparative Humanities as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies!
Dr. Kleinkopf holds an MA and PhD in the History of Premodern Europe from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as well as a BA in History and Classics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She previously taught courses in History and Women’s Studies at Indiana University Southeast, Jefferson Community and Technical College, and the University of Tennessee.
In her award-winning dissertation and book project, entitled “Second Skin: Ascetics as Body-Places in Late Antique Christianity,” Dr. Kleinkopf argues that Christian ascetics of the ancient Near East used materiality specific to their landscape to represent their bodies to the outside world. “Thus relieved from the heavy social expectations tied to their flesh,” she writes, “the ascetics within these enclosures rid themselves of earthly binaries, as they began to exist outside the categorization of male/female, human/earth, and living/dead. From moment to moment their composition changed, depending on everything from the environment, their own movement, or even the stolen glimpse from an observer.”
In her free time, Dr. Kleinkopf enjoys baking, reading, and spending time outside with her husband and dog. She particularly loves discovering new podcasts, TV shows, and the latest in great young-adult literature.
