Faculty
Andrew Sorber
Social Sciences Division Chair; Associate Professor of Humanities and History; History Program Coordinator
“The past is a strange place that appears to us as both intimately familiar and excessively foreign. Studying the past helps us understand the world in which we live and the true impact of our decisions and action. I love teaching about the ancient and medieval worlds because I know that a deeper understanding of the languages, literatures, histories, and cultures of these peoples will enrich students’ lives and enable them to make a greater impact on the world around them. That is my goal in all aspects of teaching and advising.”
Education
- Ph.D. in History, University of Virginia, 2019
- M.A. in Medieval History, University of Virginia, 2015
- M.Phil with distinction in Medieval History, University of Cambridge, 2012
- B.A. in History, Brigham Young University, 2011
Courses
- Core:
- Western Civilization I
- History and Culture of Classical Islam
- Latin I-IV
- History Major:
- Historical Methods
- Senior Paper
- Early Christianities
- Medieval Christianities
- Themes in World History
Teaching Positions & Professional Experience
- Associate Professor of Humanities and History, Southern Virginia University, 2019-present
- Department of Religion and Culture Teacher, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2018–19
- Visiting Researcher of Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, Austria, 2017
Scholarship & Creative Work
- Prophecy and Politics in the Early Carolingian World opens new tab to book, Routledge, 2024
- The Indiculus luminosus and the Creation of a Ninth-Century Prophetic Conflict Between Christianity and Islam opens new tab to book, Medieval Sicily, al-Andalus, and the Maghrib: Writing in Times of Turmoil, Leeds, pp. 17-38., 2019
- Prophetic Resistance to Islam in Ninth-Century Córdoba: Paulus Alvarus and the Indiculus luminosus opens new tab to journal, Medieval Encounters 25, pp. 433-456., 2019
- Presented research at the European Academy of Religion, Muenster, Germany, 2021; International Medieval Conference, Leeds, U.K., 2018; Sicily, al-Andalus and the Maghreb: Writing in Times of Turmoil, Universitat Autònoma Barcelona, Spain, 2017; at the 13th Annual Jefferson Fellows Symposium, Charlottesville, Va., 2014; and at Texts and Identities in the Early Middle Ages, Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge, 2011
Awards, Leadership & Service
- Quinn Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia, 2018–19
- A. Macdonald Caputo Jefferson Fellowship, Jefferson Scholars Foundation, 2013–18
- Research Grant, Dissecting Cultural Pluralism Lab: Religion and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Mediterranean, Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures, 2018
- Associate Editor – Humanities, Jefferson Journal of Science and Culture: Ethics and Development, Issue 4