Our Faculty
John T. Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair
Professor Fitzgerald is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Miami, where he has taught since 1981. He is the author or editor of nine books, more than fifty articles, and approximately 170 book reviews and book notes. Fitzgerald concentrates on the religions and philosophical schools of the ancient Mediterranean world in the period between Alexander the Great (d. 323 BCE) and Constantine (d. 337 CE). He is particularly interested in the history, literature, and economy of both early Judaism and early Christianity, and in Hellenistic moral philosophy. His current research focuses on the ancient economy, domestic violence in the ancient world, and on ways in which Jews and Christians interacted with the various segments of Greco-Roman culture and appropriated philosophical materials for religious use. The recipient of two UM teaching awards, he offers “Introduction to the New Testament” (REL 121) once a year. From time to time, as his administrative duties permit, he teaches a variety of other courses, including "The Greco-Roman Context of Early Christianity" (REL 308),"The Rise of Judaism" (REL 314), "Jesus and the Gospels" (REL 321), "St. Paul: Letters and Controversies" (REL 322), "The Bible and Modern Film" (REL 324), "Jesus in Myth and History" (REL 325), "Women of the Ancient World" (REL 405), "Religion and Film" (REL 406), and offers seminars on other topics dealing with the Bible in its various socio-historical contexts. Fitzgerald has been a visiting professor at both Brown and Yale, was the founding General Editor of the Writings from the Greco-Roman World Series, and served as Chair of Council of the Society of Biblical Literature. In addition to his appointment at the University of Miami, since 2008 he has been Professor Extraordinary at North-West University in South Africa.
