Dr. Leslie Kurke

Biography

Leslie Kurke is the Gladys Rehard Wood Chair and a Distinguished Professor of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently engaged in writing a book focused on ancient Greek chorality. Her research encompasses ancient Greek literature and cultural history, with a particular emphasis on Archaic Greek poetry, the prose of Herodotus, and ancient Greek popular culture. Kurke's work explores the interactions between literary texts and the social practices of ancient Greece, analyzing the role of choruses in shaping communal identities and social hierarchies. She has published several influential books, including 'Traffic and Praise,' 'Coins, Bodies, Games, Gold,' and 'Aesopic Conversations,' which examine the cultural context of early Greek literature. Kurke has held a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University and joined the faculty at Berkeley in 1990, where she is also a member of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies. Her critical engagements involve theorizing the socio-political dynamics represented in ancient texts and their performance contexts, offering rich insights into the aesthetics and communal aspects of choral performance in ancient Greece.

Research Interests

Experience