Jonathan R. Young

I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford in Theology and Religion. My research centers on the intersections of the religious, philosophical, and intellectual history of the Roman Empire. My doctoral research focuses on Hellenic, Jewish, and Christian debates regarding animal cognition and animals’ involvement in the religious world, especially their capacities for religious behavior and thought. My expertise includes Early Christianity, Ancient Philosophy, especially the Platonic tradition, Imperial Prose, and the reception of earlier texts in the Empire. I am also intrigued by ancient portrayals of peoples, cultures, and religions in and around the Roman Empire, in particular, Roman Gaul and Egypt. Additionally, I have extensive training in Greek and Latin palaeography, and am a student of Sahidic Coptic. I hold master’s degrees in both Classics and Religious Studies as well as a bachelor’s degree in Classics.