Danuta Shanzer

Danuta Shanzer is a University Professor of Late and Medieval Latin Philology at the University of Vienna since 2011. Previously, she served as Professor of Classics and Medieval Studies at Cornell University (1989-2003) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2003-2011), and as Assistant/Associate Professor at UC Berkeley (1981-1990). Her career spans four decades of research and teaching across Classics, Religious Studies, and Medieval Studies.

• Education
  • Bryn Mawr College (BA in Ancient Greek and Latin, 1977)
  • University of Oxford (D.Phil in Humanities, 1981)

Shanzer specializes in classical and medieval Latin philology, with focus on Late Roman and Early Medieval history, Christian Latin literature, textual criticism, and the reception of classical texts in medieval Europe. Her work bridges literary analysis, religious transformation, and cultural continuity during the Roman-Germanic transition.

Her publications include studies on Augustine’s writings, Gregory of Tours’ miracle books, and the Dating of Clovis’ Baptism. She has held editorial leadership roles for the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series and journals like Early Medieval Europe and Wiener Studien.

• Scientific Awards
  • Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America (2008)
  • Full member, Austrian Academy of Sciences (2014)
  • Socia Ordinaria, Società Italiana per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino (2015)

Shanzer has also served as editor for multiple academic series and journals, including co-editing Society, Culture, and Text in Late Antiquity and leading editorial work for the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Her research illuminates the intersection of literary traditions, religious identity, and societal change in late antiquity and early medieval Europe.