Blake Leyerle
Professor
Primary Field of Study: Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity
Education
Ph.D. Duke University
Research and Training Interests
John Chrysostom and domestic devotions; early Christian pilgrimage; animals
Selected Publications
“Imagine the Table, the Bed, the Shoes! John Chrysostom on the Affective Power of Imagined Objects.” Studies in Late Antiquity 7.4 (2023): 499–515.
“Voices of Others in Egeria’s Pilgrim Narrative.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 29.4 (2021): 553–78.
The Narrative Shape of Emotion in the Preaching of John Chrysostom. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2020.
“Tertullian’s Chameleon.” Journal of Roman Studies 109 (2019): 275–89.
“Locating Animals in John Chrysostom’s Thought.” Revisioning John Chrysostom: New Approaches, New Perspectives. Critical Approaches to Early Christianity 1. Edited by Chris L. de Wet and Wendy Mayer. Leiden: Brill, 2019: 276–99.
Biography
Blake Leyerle's scholarly specialization lies in the social and cultural history of early Christianity. She has published on a wide range of topics (such as almsgiving, children, table manners, domestic devotions, travel and communication, pilgrimage, the theater, asceticism, urban life, amulets, sewers, animals, and the emotions), but has a particular interest in John Chrysostom. All of her work is marked by a commitment to incorporating material reality as well as the insights of critical theory. She is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the North American Patristics Society, and has served in multiple capacities on their steering and planning committees. Since 1990, she has taught at all levels at Notre Dame and been recognized for her excellence in teaching. A founding member of the interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Early Christian Studies at Notre Dame, she was its longest-serving director. Her most recent book, The Narrative Shape of Emotion in the Preaching of John Chrysostom, was published by the University of California Press in 2020. Another monograph, Christians at Home: John Chrysostom on Domestic Rituals, is forthcoming from Penn State Press (June 2024). Her next book project focuses on early Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Contact
444 Malloy Hall
(574) 631-7090
leyerle.1@nd.edu