Carissa Martin
About:
I graduated from Emory University in Atlanta in 2021 with a BA in Classics and a BA in Chemistry. Ancient narratives caught and held my attention for the first time in a seminar on the ancient Greek and Roman novels. After some exploration, I returned to the novels in my undergraduate thesis, which argued that Achilles Tatius and Heliodorus use narrative and metanarrative performances of sophrosune to create the false senses of closure necessary for ending their novels.
While my interests have expanded to include tragedy, comedy, narratology, and medieval and modern reception, the novels and their unique perspectives on power and identity still fascinate me. As I pursue my PhD at UC Santa Barbara, I am excited to continue asking questions about gender, sexuality, disability, and agency in antiquity. I hope to use interdisciplinary approaches from fields like literary theory and gender studies to further understand the still-relevant insights ancient narratives can bring to modern discussions.