Shane Butler

Shane Butler is the Nancy H. and Robert E. Hall Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Classics at Johns Hopkins University, where he also directs the Classics Research Lab and serves as Director of Graduate Studies. He holds a PhD from Columbia University (2000) and has taught at the University of Bristol, UCLA, and the University of Pennsylvania. His research spans Latin literature, classical reception, sensation studies, aesthetics, queer theory, and media history, focusing on the interplay between embodiment and art.

Education: PhD in Classics from Columbia University (2000). Prior to Hopkins, he held faculty positions at the University of Bristol, UCLA, and UPenn. He has been a residential fellow at the American Academy in Rome, Villa I Tatti, the Getty Villa, and the MPIWG Berlin.

Research focuses on Latin literature from antiquity to early modernity, classical reception theory, and the sensory dimensions of ancient aesthetics. Notable works include The Passions of John Addington Symonds (2022), The Ancient Phonograph (2015), and Sound and the Ancient Senses (2019). He co-edits the Classical Philology special issue on 'Philology Transfigured' and directs the John Addington Symonds Project.

Awards include fellowships at leading institutions and editorial roles, including Associate Editor of the I Tatti Renaissance Library. His recent work explores queer philology and the intersection of sound studies with ancient literature.