Dr. Kenneth Yu

Biography

Kenneth Yu’s research encompasses distinct areas intersecting Imperial Greek literature and cultural religious contexts, particularly ancient Greek religion and the ideologies and politics underpinning paideia (ancient education). He has a long-standing interest in the history of classical scholarship and textual exegetical practices. Significant themes in his work include the disciplinary history of Greek religion, practices of commentary in Greek and Roman antiquity, and the limits of the notion of pseudepigraphy. Areas he engages with include religion in Plato’s Laws, ideas of collaboration in ancient scholarship, and aetiological reasoning in genres such as the Homeric Hymns and Imperial antiquarian literature. His forthcoming book, Ancient Scholarship Greek Religion: Constructing Gods Thauma Philology, traces the habits of perception and styles of reasoning that guided ancient scholarly inquiry into myth and cult, challenging the longstanding view that ancient Greeks conceptualized religion as a discrete sphere of values. He is also involved in ongoing publication projects, including edited volumes for the Oxford Handbook of Global Commentary, which compares premodern practices of commentary across various traditions, including those of China, South Asia, the Islamicate world, and the Mediterranean.

Research Interests

Experience