• Degree: Began Ph.D. program in 2018; defended dissertation in December 2024—awarded distinction.
• Concentration: Texts and Contexts/ Religions of the Classical & Late Ancient Mediterranean.
• Dissertation Title: Genealogies of Religion & Humanity in the Divine Institutes of Lactantius.
• Dissertation Advisor: Virginia Burrus.
• Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth DePalma Digeser; Jennifer Glancy; Patricia Cox Miller; and William Robert.

Daniel J. Kimmel is a PhD in Religious Studies at Syracuse University.

Specializations: • Late Ancient Christianity • Religion in the Roman Empire • Magic in Antiquity • Neoplatonism & Theurgy • Reception History of Antiquity

Languages: • Latin • Ancient Greek • French • German

Daniel’s research and teaching encompasses the study of religion, philosophy, and magic in the ancient Mediterranean, with a particular focus on the history of early Christianity and its constructive encounters with the cults, philosophies, and arts of Greco-Roman antiquity. Daniel’s doctoral research focuses on the early-fourth century Divine Institutes of Lactantius and its role, among other things, in transforming classical republican philosophy and Roman jurisprudence in advocating for human rights and religious liberty under the novel “law of humanity and kinship”. At present, Daniel is particularly interested in tracking the reception history of Lactantius and tracing how these ancient debates about justice, liberty, and the human shaped both European political thought and the American constitutional tradition.

Daniel has taught courses as an instructor of record at Syracuse University, Lehigh University, and Le Moyne College, including: • Greco-Roman Religion; • Ancient Magic; • Christianity in Dialogue with World Religions; and • Rhetoric & Composition. For Daniel’s record of service as an instructor and teaching assistant, Daniel received the Graduate School of Syracuse University’s Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in 2024 at the nomination of department faculty.

Daniel’s research and teaching are combined with a commitment to practicing responsible leadership and fostering intellectual community through institutional governance. Daniel has served in numerous positions at Syracuse University, including: • President of the Graduate Student Body & Chief Executive Officer of the Graduate Student Organization (2023-2025); • Vice President & Chair of the Senate of the Graduate Student Organization (2021-2023); (and) • Co-President of the Religion Graduate Organization (2019-2022). Among other things, Daniel is honored to have been a drafting member of the 2024 Syracuse Statement on Free Expression & Free Inquiry.

Daniel is an active member of the North American Patristics Society (NAPS) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR), presently serving as a member of the AAR Platonism & Neoplatonism Unit Steering Committee.