M.E.S. (Marlena) Whiting, Dr
Onderzoeker
Telefoon:
E-mail:
m.e.s.whiting rug.nl
Vakgebied
Expertise
I am a historian of the late antique and early medieval eastern Mediterranean, interested in how societies experience and adapt to major change. My research explores the transition from the Roman to the early Islamic world, focusing on everyday life and how people navigated shifts in religion, identity, and power. My research connects imperial representations of space - such as Constantinople in Procopius’ Buildings - with the lived experience of urban communities in the Near East. A key strand of my work examines questions of gender and agency, particularly how women participated in and shaped religious life. I am especially interested in practices such as pilgrimage, where individuals and communities negotiated belief, identity, and social roles in ways that do not always fit elite or institutional narratives. I combine archaeological fieldwork with textual sources and digital tools to reconstruct lived experience. Much of my research draws on excavations at sites such as Jerash and Petra in modern Jordan, where the material record offers a unique window into how communities reshaped their environments and traditions across periods of transformation. My publications examine topics including pilgrimage, urban space, and networks of mobility, and I am currently completing a monograph on travel and connectivity in the Late Antique Near East. In my teaching, I encourage students to think critically about cultural interaction, diversity, and the ways in which historical actors exercised agency within changing worlds.
Overige functies
Onderzoeksmedewerker, Faculty of Classics, Universiteit van Oxford
Laatst gewijzigd:16 april 2026 11:45