Christopher Jotischky

Christopher Jotischky is an Early Career Research Associate (until September 30, 2027) specializing in Classical Reception Studies and Modern Greek identity formation during the long nineteenth century. His work examines how Greek elites utilized Western European philology to position Greece within European intellectual frameworks, with specific focus on Latin education's impact on Greek literary culture and the political discourse around enslavement practices.

He completed his doctoral research at Brown University analyzing the adoption of Latin in Greek schools and its literary repercussions in the Modern Greek novel, currently developing this into a monograph. In Spring 2025, he will conduct further research at the University of Amsterdam as a Laskaridis Foundation Fellow, investigating classical influences on nineteenth-century Greek prose syntax and vocabulary.

His research interests include:

• Classical Reception Studies
• Modern Greek Intellectual History
• 19th Century Nation-Building
• History of Slavery in Mediterranean Contexts
• Greek Linguistic Development
• Post-Ottoman Cultural Studies

He has received the Laskaridis Foundation Fellowship supporting his Amsterdam research, with plans to develop his postdoctoral work on classical enslavement paradigms into a second monograph—the first comprehensive study of this reception in Modern Greece.

Dr. Jotischky's current projects critically analyze how Greek intellectuals referenced Greco-Roman enslavement institutions to condemn both Ottoman legacies and the Transatlantic slave trade, positioning Greece as an 'enlightened' post-slavery state.