I’m delighted to announce the names of this year’s Nibley Fellowship recipients. Once again, we received a great number of impressive applications. These recipients stand out for their excellence and promise. We congratulate each one of them. To learn more about the Nibley Fellowship Program, see here.
Graduate Stipend:
Daniel Becerra, PhD Student, Duke University.
Bio: Becerra is studying Ancient Christianity in his third year at Duke University. He has a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in New Testament and Early Christianity and a BA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Brigham Young University. His previous publications include “A Homeric Papyrus from Tebtunis,” BASP 51 (2014), 7-26, which he co-authored with Thomas Wayment.
Considerations: During his course work at Duke University Daniel Becerra has not only become a careful and discerning reader of ancient Christian texts, but has also developed into a mature writer with a distinct scholarly voice. His research on the process of moral formation in late antique Christianity is already bearing fruit in the form of papers presented at two international conferences. His research promises to not only make an original and impressive contribution to our understanding of ancient Christianity, but also illuminate contemporary Christian discipleship.
Luke Drake, PhD Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Bio: Luke is a third year PhD student of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. He has a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in New Testament and Early Christianity and a BA in English from BYU. His recent publications included The Emergence of Christianity (Mohr Seibeck, 2013), an edited collection of the papers of François Bovon.
Considerations: Luke Drake combines prodigious industry with a vibrant intellectual curiosity. The result, as one of his recommenders observed, is a remarkable maturity, ingenuity, and breadth of knowledge. He is already producing publishable work on a broad range of topics in his graduate seminars, and has impressed his professors with his control of ancient languages and contemporary academic issues. In addition, Luke is an accomplished and inspiring teacher, who is very much appreciated by the UNC undergraduates. It is clear that Luke is destined to become one of the leading voices in the field of early Christian studies.
Graduate Research Awards:
Michael Biggerstaff, PhD Student, Ohio State University.
Ryan Davis, PhD Candidate, University of Texas, Austin.
Alex Douglas, PhD Candidate, Harvard University.
Mark Ellison, PhD Student, Vanderbilt University.
Alan Taylor Farnes, PhD Student, University of Birmingham, UK.
Conference and Travel Grants:
Daniel Becerra, PhD Student, Duke University (For the 17th International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford).
Brian Bozung, PhD Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (For an archaeological excavation in Israel).
Luke Drake, PhD Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (For the 17th International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford).
Courtney Innes, PhD Student, University of British Columbia (For an archaeological excavation in Sicily).
Bradley Kime, PhD Student, University of Virginia (For the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta).