The College of Humanities and Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Crislip, Ph.D., to the position of chair of the Department of History. Andrew will begin his new position on July 1.

Andrew currently serves as the Blake Chair in the History of Christianity within the Department of History. His research focuses on Egyptian monasticism, ancient healing traditions, and the history of emotions, through which he explores Christian approaches to passions within the contexts of ancient philosophy and medicine and the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study of emotion. 

His books include "Selected Discourses of Shenoute the Great" (with David Brakke, Cambridge University Press) and "Thorns in the Flesh: Illness and Sanctity in Late Ancient Christianity" (University of Pennsylvania Press). He has published articles in Harvard Theological Review, the Journal of Biblical Literature, The Journal of the Bible and Its Reception, Studia Patristica, and Vigiliae Christianae.

Andrew has received a number of awards and fellowships throughout the years including H.P. Kraus Fellowship from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Studies Fellowship, and a Fulbright Scholar Grant. He was also a recipient of a VCU Humanities Research Center Residential Fellowship, and received the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences Excellence in Scholarship Award.

The College wants to thank John Powers, Ph.D., the outgoing chair of the Department of History for his leadership. We are grateful for his service.