معرفی
Frederic Clark serves as Associate Professor of Classics and English at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, specializing in the cultural transmission of classical antiquity through medieval and early modern Europe. His research interrogates how ancient texts shaped humanistic scholarship, evidenced by his monograph The First Pagan Historian (Oxford, 2020) and forthcoming work on historical periodization.
Clark's academic foundation includes:
- Ph.D. in History, Princeton University (2014)
- M.Phil. in Medieval History, University of Cambridge (2009)
- B.A. in History and Literature, Harvard University (2008)
He completed postdoctoral training as Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at Rice University (2017-2018), Visiting Assistant Professor at NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (2015-2017), and Mellon Fellow at Stanford University (2014-2015).
His intellectual inquiry spans classical reception, Latin literature's afterlife, late antiquity, and Renaissance humanism, with particular focus on textual authenticity, historical periodization, and the construction of scholarly canons. Clark examines how forgeries like Dares Phrygius' Trojan War narrative catalyzed debates about history versus fiction across a millennium of scholarship.
Analysis of Clark's publications (2010-2022) reveals consistent investigation into the mechanics of historical consciousness: how early modern scholars demarcated antiquity from the Middle Ages, reconstructed lost classical works, and navigated tensions between philological rigor and imaginative reconstruction. His work demonstrates how medieval genealogies and Renaissance antiquarianism actively shaped modern historical methodologies.
Clark's scholarly recognition includes:
- Faculty Fellow, USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute (Spring 2023)
- External Faculty Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center (2020-2021)
While his current advising activities remain unspecified, Clark's collaborative research—exemplified by the multi-author study of Winthrop family reading practices—highlights his engagement with collective scholarly enterprises. His office (PED 132B) and email (fredernc@usc.edu) facilitate ongoing contributions to classical and historical discourse.
