Kristi Upson-Saia is a Historian of Late Antiquity. She holds the David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professorship in Religion at Occidental College, Los Angeles, California. [1] She specialises in the history of medicine, health and healing, and religions in the late ancient Mediterranean.
Upson-Saia was awarded her PhD from Duke University in 2006. Her doctoral thesis was entitled Making An Appearance: Sexual Renunciation and Gender Revision in the Attire of Early Christian Female Ascetics. [2] Her doctoral project was supervised by Elizabeth A. Clark.
Upson-Saia published two books on dress studies, a monograph, Early Christian Dress: Gender, Virtue and Authority (Routledge, 2011) and an edited volume, Dressing Judeans and Christians in Antiquity (Routledge, 2014).
She has also published a book on the history of pre-modern medicine, Medicine, Health, and Healing in the Ancient Mediterranean (University of California Press, 2023).
With Heidi Marx at the University of Manitoba, Upson-Saia founded and co-directs the international working group, composed of over 300 scholarly members, on Religion, Medicine, Disability, and Health in late antiquity, ReMeDHe. [3]
In 2008, Upson-Saia's article "Caught in a Compromising Position: The Biblical Exegesis and Characterization of Biblical Protagonists in the Syriac Dialogue Hymns" was awarded the Best First Article Prize from the North American Patristics Society. [4]
In 2011, Upson-Saia was awarded the Donald R. Loftsgordon Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching, and in 2012, Upson-Saia won the Linda and Tod White Teaching Prize.
In 2021, Upson-Saia was awarded the David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professorship at Occidental College. [5]
In 2022, Upson-Saia led efforts to procure a $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to fund Occidental College’s Humanities for Just Communities curriculum. [6] [7]
In 2025, Upson-Saia was awarded the Graham L. Sterling Memorial Award. [8]
Upson-Saia was an expert contributor on Greg Jenner's BBC Radio 4 programme, 'You're Dead To Me', with comedian Stu Goldsmith. They discussed Greek and Roman Medicine. [9]
Upson-Saia has also written about medical views on pregnancy for Nursing Clio, [10] dress at the Met Gala for Hyperallergic, [11] ancient sexual ethics with the Huffington Post. [12]
