Elizabeth A. Clark | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Elizabeth A. Clark at Duke hooding ceremony (2007) | |
| Born | September 27, 1938 |
| Died | September 7, 2021 (aged 82) |
| Awards | Adèle Mellen Prize (1986) Guggenheim Fellowship (1988) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Thesis | The influence of Aristotelian thought on Clement of Alexandria: a study in philosophical transmission (1964) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Early Christianity |
| Institutions | Duke University |
Elizabeth Ann Clark (September 27, 1938 – September 7, 2021) was a professor of the John Carlisle Kilgo professorship of religion at Duke University.[1] She was notable for her work in the field of Patristics, and the teaching of ancient Christianity in US higher education. Clark expanded the study of early Christianity and was a strong advocate for women, pioneering the application of modern theories such as feminist theory, social network theory, and literary criticism to ancient sources.[2][3][4]
Clark was born in Port Chester, New York, in 1938. She moved to Delhi, New York, when she was nine.[2] She attended high school there and subsequently described her education in history as 'dismal'.[5] She received a state scholarship and attended Vassar College, where she received her BA in Religion in 1960.[2] Clark was taught history by Mildred Campbell, Mary Martin McLaughlin, and J. B. Ross, and Religion by Jack Glasse.[5] Clark received her MA and PhD from Columbia University in 1962 and 1965.[6]
As a graduate student, Clark studied Early Christianity alongside philosophy, including a course run by Paul Oskar Kristeller on Hellenic philosophy after Aristotle. Clark described Kristeller as 'the most learned scholar I have ever known'.[7] Clark's doctoral thesis was The Influence of Aristotelian Thought on Clement of Alexandria: A Study in Philosophical Transmission,[8] written under the direction of the faculty of Union Theological Seminary.
In 1964, Clark founded the Department of Religion at Mary Washington College (now part of the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion at the University of Mary Washington) in Fredericksburg, Virginia.[7] She held the position of the Chair of the Department 1979–82.[9] In 1982, Clark was appointed a Professor of Religion at Duke University, where she subsequently worked for forty years.[10] She founded the Center for Late Ancient Studies at Duke in 1986.[11] At the time of her appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences, the faculty numbered around 500; only four women held the rank of full professor.[5]
Clark held a fellowship at the National Humanities Center, North Carolina, 2001–02. Clark was awarded an honorary degree by Uppsala University in 2001.[12] She was given the shell of the cannon that was fired during the ceremony as a memento.[7] Clark received an honorary degree from Yale University in 2013. Clark has served on the boards of many academic journals, including Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.[5] She helped to launch and co-edited the Journal of Early Christian Studies.[7] Clark was a prolific writer, authoring or editing thirteen books and over seventy articles. Her research has focused on Augustine, John Chrysostom, Origen, social networks, early ascetic practices, and women in the early church.[2] Clark retired from Duke in 2014 as the John Carlisle Kilgo Professor. She remained on the board of the Center for Late Ancient Studies at Duke. Reflecting on her career, Clark observed that it was 'rather eclectic': 'I branched into byways as well as highways, stumbled into enterprises for which neither my background nor graduate school had prepared me.'[7]
Clark has served as president of the American Academy of Religion (1990), the American Society of Church History (1987), and the North American Patristics Society (1989).[9] She was responsible for launching the Journal of Early Christian Studies, a flagship journal in the field of Patristics, early Christianity, and late ancient studies.[9] She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1988.[13] She has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies.[14] In 2003, she received the Distinguished Career Award from the American Society of Church History. In 2006 she was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the North American Patristic Society.[2]
Clark's critical influence is demonstrated in the two Festschriften published in her honor: the first, The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies (2005)[15] edited by Dale Martin and Patricia Cox Miller; the second edited by C. M. Chin and Caroline T. Schroeder: Melania: Early Christianity through the Life of One Family (2017).[9] In 2018, Duke University renamed the Center for Late Ancient Studies as the Elizabeth A. Clark Center for Late Ancient Studies, "in honor of Dr. Clark’s career and leadership in the field."[11]
Clark has served as dissertation adviser for a number of leading scholars in the field. For her support of young scholars, especially her commitment to support women and others who have not traditionally been represented in the academy, Clark was awarded the Dean's award for Excellence in Mentoring.[16]
Her most recent book, The Fathers Refounded, was described as 'a truly brilliant book, massively researched, beautifully written, often witty, and rich with insight'.[17]
Clark died on 7 September 2021.[18][19][20] Flags were lowered at Duke University as a result.[10]
Clark was involved with the women's movement from the late 1960s, co-founding the Fredericksburg chapter of National Organization for Women (NOW).[7]
