Meet the Faculty: Blake Leyerle

Blake Leyerle is a professor in the department of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Her scholarly specialization lies in the social and cultural history of early Christianity. She has published on a wide range of topics, such as almsgiving, children, table manners, domestic devotions, travel and communication, pilgrimage, the theater, asceticism, urban life, amulets, sewers, animals, and the emotions. But her particular interest in John Chrysostom is evident in her two most recent monographs: Christians at Home: John Chrysostom and Domestic Rituals in Fourth Century Antioch (Penn State University Press, June, 2024), and The Narrative Shape of Emotion in the Preaching of John Chrysostom (the University of California Press, 2020. Her current book project focuses on early Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land. All of her work is marked by a commitment to incorporating material reality as well as the insights of critical theory. She is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the North American Patristics Society, and has served in multiple capacities on their steering and planning committees. Since 1990, she has taught at all levels at Notre Dame and been recognized for her excellence in teaching. A founding member of the interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Early Christian Studies at Notre Dame, she was its longest-serving director.