Graduate students
Cloisonné enamel disk with griffin,
c.900 A.D. (By permission of the
Ashmolean Museum)
Graduate students at Oxford are enrolled on one of three courses: the one-year taught Master of Studies (M.St); the two-year Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) course, which includes a 30,000 word dissertation; or a Doctor of Philosophy programme (D.Phil), which involves a substantial dissertation. Those in the first year of a D.Phil programme are formally classed as Probationary Research Students (PRSs), until they have satisfied examiners that they should progress to become D.Phil students.
The Oxford Byzantine Society offers support and advice to graduate students, and also holds regular presentations, lecture days etc to allow graduate students to present their work to their peers during their time at Oxford. It also runs a series of social events, as well as study trips abroad. Its officers are currently:
- Jesse Simon (University College) – President
- Bec McGann (Exeter College) – Social Secretary.
PRS/D.Phil Students
Students for the research degree of Doctor of Philosophy initially have the status of Probationary Research Students (PRS) until passing formally to Doctoral candidate status. The following are currently studying at Oxford for the D.Phil degree, the highest research accolade which the University of Oxford awards.
- Emilio Bonfiglio (Pembroke College)
Thesis title: John Chrysostom’s discourses on his first exile: critical edition and commentary of the Greek original and of the Latin, Armenian and Syriac ancient versions
Supervisors: Prof. van Lint and Mr. Nigel Wilson
Contact: emilio.bonfiglio@pmb.ox.ac.uk - Yaman Dalanay (Exeter College)
Thesis title: The Transition from Byzantine to Turkish Rule in Western Asia Minor: The Case of Ephesus (11th-16th centuries)
Supervisor: Dr. Marlia Mango
B.A., M.A. Economics (Bogazici University, Istanbul); M.St., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact: yamandalanay@gmail.com - Simon Ford (Exeter College)
Thesis title: Religious Elites and the Later Roman State, AD 451-642
Supervisors: Dr. Neil McLynn & Dr. David Taylor
B.A., History and Classical Humanities (University of Wisconsin-Madison); M.Phil., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact: simon.ford@exeter.ox.ac.uk
- George Kazan (St. John’s College)
Thesis title: Cults and Relics at Constantinople: Their Origins and Development, A.D. 300–843
Supervisor: Dr. Marlia Mango
B.A. Lit Hum (University of Oxford); M.St., Classical Archeology (University of Oxford) - Konstantine Klein
Supervisor: Dr. Neil McLynn - Sima Krasnopolskaya (Exeter College)
Thesis title: The Dynamic of Message-Making in Sacred Art: the case of Medieval Russian Vita-Icons
Supervisor: Dr. Marlia Mango - Katherine LaFrance (St. John’s College)
Research topic: Dionysiaca of Nonnus
Supervisors: Dr. John Edwards
B.A. (Yale); M.Phil., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact: katherine.lafrance@sjc.ox.ac.uk - Sean Leatherbury (Corpus Christi College)
Thesis Title: Inscribed within the Image: Early Christian Church Mosaics and Their Inscriptions
Supervisor: Dr. Jas Elsner
B.A., History of Art (Yale University); M.Phil., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford) Contact: sean.leatherbury@ccc.ox.ac.uk - Rebecca McGann (Exeter College)
Thesis title: Art and Text in Late Antiquity: The Language of Christian Narrative Images
Supervisor: Prof. Jas Elsner
B.A. Classics and Archaeology (University of Melbourne); MSt., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact : rebecca.mcgann@exeter.ox.ac.uk - Elizabeth Montgomerie (Exeter College)
Research topic: Images of time and place in mosaic pavements of the late antique Levant
Supervisor: Dr. Marlia Mango - Adrastos Omissi (St. John’s College)
Thesis title: The Frontiers and the Roman Army in the Fourth Century
Supervisor: Dr. Neil McLynn
B.A. Classics (University of Oxford); M.St., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact: adrastos.omissi@sjc.ox.ac.uk - Prerona Prasad (Keble College)
Thesis title: Byzantine Diplomacy and Foreign Policy in the Personal Reign of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (945–959)
Supervisor: Dr. James Howard-Johnston
B.A. (Delhi); B.A.. History (University of Oxford); M.Phil., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact: prerona.prasad@keble.ox.ac.uk - Meredith Riedel (Exeter College)
Thesis title: Fighting the Good Fight: The Taktika of Leo VI and Christian identity in the tenth century
Supervisor: Dr. Catherine Holmes
Th.M, Old Testament Studies (Princeton Theological Seminary); M.St., Byzantine Studies (University of Oxford)
Contact: meredith.riedel@exeter.ox.ac.uk - Natalija Ristovska (Exeter College)
Thesis title: Pathways of Artistic Interchange: circulation of high-value goods goods in Byzantium, the Levant and north of the Black Sea (843–1204)
Supervisor: Dr. M. Mango
Contact: natalija ristovska@exeter.ox.ac.uk - Eftymios Rizos (Keble College)
Thesis title: Late Antique Urbanism in the Eastern and Central Balkans
Supervisor: Dr. Bryan Ward-Perkins
B.A., M.A., Aristotle University of Thessalonike
Contact: efthymios.rizos@keble.ox.ac.uk - Alan Ross (Wolfson College)
Supervisor: Dr. Neil McLynn - Jenny Thompson (Corpus Christi College)
Thesis title: From cradle to grave: Honorius, Valentinian II, and the exercise of imperial power
Supervisor: Dr. Neil McLynn
B.A., History (University of Sheffield); M.A., Historical Research (University of Sheffield)
Contact - jenny.thompson@history.ox.ac.uk - Elodie Turquois (St. Hugh’s College)
The World Of Procopius: Imagination And Imitation In Late Antiquity
Supervisor: Prof. Elizabeth Jeffreys - Marlena Whiting (Lincoln College)
Thesis title: Travel and Accommodation in the East Mediterranean, A.D. 300–700: A Study of Networks of Communication, Travel Infrastructure and Modes of Accommodation in Late Antiquity
Supervisor: Dr. Marlia Mango - Rose-Marie Wyche (St. John’s College)
Research topic: Sarcophagi in Late Antique Provence
Supervisor: Dr. Marlia Mango