Christopher S. Celenza
· James B. Knapp Dean and Professor of History and ClassicsJohns Hopkins University · History
Active 1996–2026
Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.
About
Professor Christopher S. Celenza is the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and a professor in the departments of history and classics. His research interests include Latin literature and philosophy of the Italian Renaissance, late medieval intellectual history, the history of philosophy, the history of books and reading practices, Latin paleography, and the history of the classical tradition. Dr. Celenza holds two doctoral degrees—a doctorate in history from Duke University and a doctorate in classics and neo-Latin literature from the University of Hamburg. He has previously served as Dean of Georgetown College at Georgetown University and as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Johns Hopkins. He first joined the Krieger School faculty in 2005 and has also taught at Michigan State University. Dr. Celenza has received numerous awards and grants, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He served as the 21st Director of the American Academy in Rome from 2010 to 2014 and was the founder and first director of JHU’s Singleton Center for the Study of Premodern Europe. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books on the Italian Renaissance and the history of Western thought.
Research topics
- Humanities
- History
- Literature
- Computer Science
- Epistemology
- Theology
- Philosophy
- Art
- Art history
- Classics
Selected publications
The Intellectual World of the Italian Renaissance: Language, Philosophy, and the Search for Meaning
Renaissance and Reformation · 2019-04-01 · 101 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingexpression after the Reformation, and that it should be considered more often as a complement to Paul's theology.This is a significant argument, and deserves a wide audience.
The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities: An Intellectual History, 1400–1800
2021 · 16 citations
1st authorCorrespondingChristopher Celenza is one of the foremost contemporary scholars of the Renaissance. His ambitious new book focuses on the body of knowledge which we now call the humanities, charting its roots in the Italian Renaissance and exploring its development up to the Enlightenment. Beginning in the fifteenth century, the author shows how thinkers like Lorenzo Valla and Angelo Poliziano developed innovative ways to read texts closely, paying attention to historical context, developing methods to determi…
The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities
2021 · 15 citations
1st authorCorrespondingChristopher Celenza is one of the foremost contemporary scholars of the Renaissance. His ambitious new book focuses on the body of knowledge which we now call the humanities, charting its roots in the Italian Renaissance and exploring its development up to the Enlightenment. Beginning in the fifteenth century, the author shows how thinkers like Lorenzo Valla and Angelo Poliziano developed innovative ways to read texts closely, paying attention to historical context, developing methods to determi…
TDO volume 76 Cover and Front matter
Traditio · 2021 · 1 citations
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2026-02-20
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
Frequent coauthors
- 175 shared
Samuel Cohn
University of Molise
- 175 shared
Isabella Lazzarini
University of Molise
- 175 shared
Andrea Gamberini
Siemens (Denmark)
- 164 shared
Joseph T. Lienhard
Sorbonne Université
- 164 shared
Martin Chase
- 164 shared
Tobias Hoffmann
- 163 shared
Lucy K. Pick
- 146 shared
Nina Rowe
Labs
Awards & honors
- Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation
- Fellowship from the Fulbright Foundation
- Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies
- Director of the American Academy in Rome (2010-2014)
Similar researchers at Johns Hopkins University
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Christopher S. Celenza
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup