Dr. L White

Biography

L. Michael White holds the Ronald Nelson Smith Chair in Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also serves as the Director of the Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins (ISAC). He earned his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University. Before joining UT-Austin, he was the Chair of the Department of Religion at Oberlin College. White specializes in the study of Greco-Roman religions, with a particular focus on the social context of Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman world. He has worked as a consultant and co-writer for PBS/Frontline documentaries, including “From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament,” which led to his major book, “Apocalypse! Time, History, Revolution.” His recent book, “Scripting Jesus: The Gospels Rewrite,” was published in 2010 by HarperCollins. His publications include works on the social origins of Christian architecture and the architectural adaptations of pagan and Jewish structures in the Roman world. Furthermore, he serves as the Project Director for the Ostia Synagogue Area Excavations (OSMAP), an archaeological field project aimed at reevaluating the area of an ancient synagogue in Ostia Antica, the port city of classical Rome.

Research Interests