Travis W. Proctor

Travis W. Proctor is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Wittenberg University. His research focuses on the intersection of early Christian conceptions of demonic bodies and ecological systems, employing interdisciplinary frameworks from gender studies, environmental humanities, and disability studies. He examines how ancient Christian authors constructed human and nonhuman bodies through interactions with demonic adversaries, analyzing texts such as the New Testament, Gnostic treatises, and writings of early church fathers like Ignatius of Antioch and Tertullian.

Proctor's work has been recognized through awards from the Society of Biblical Literature and Heidelberg University's Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology. His contributions span academic journals (e.g., Journal of Early Christian Studies, Harvard Theological Review) and public platforms like Religion Dispatches and podcasts. His 2022 book, Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture, is the first comprehensive study of nonhuman bodies in early Christian literature, exploring how demonization served to exclude marginalized groups through bodily symbolism.

Proctor's research bridges ancient religious thought with contemporary ecological and posthumanist theories, offering insights into the entangled relationships between human and nonhuman bodies in early Christian cosmologies.