Eric Rebillard

Eric Rebillard is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at Cornell University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences and departments/programs including Classics, History, Archaeology, Jewish Studies, Medieval Studies, and Religious Studies. His work bridges historical analysis with archaeological and literary approaches to Late Antiquity and early Christianity.

• Education: PhD in Classics from the Sorbonne (1993)
• Former affiliations: French CNRS (1996-2003), École française de Rome

Research focuses on religious practices in Late Antiquity, particularly early Christian martyr narratives, burial customs, and the social dynamics of religious identity. His scholarship challenges conventional narratives about the exclusivity of Christian communities and emphasizes the fluidity of religious self-identification. Publications span monographs, edited volumes, and translated papers, with recurring themes of Roman Empire, Augustine of Hippo, and funerary archaeology.

Key article trends include analysis of martyr texts, material culture, Augustinian theology, and Christianization processes in the Latin West. Awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship (2020-21) for his project on the triumph of Christianity. Grants supported interdisciplinary collaborations, such as the OpenURL citation project with Cornell University Library (2009).